


The Ministry's Revenge

by 18lzytwner



Series: LazyTown Second Series [11]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-15
Updated: 2009-12-15
Packaged: 2019-06-29 08:45:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 22,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15725955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: The Ministry is prepared to have the last laugh but will our heroes spoil it for them? Or will this be the end of things as we know them?  M RATING FOR VIOLENCE.





	1. Chapter 1

**_Two weeks after The Long Journey Home_ **

          Sportacus and Stephanie had been sneaking around the past two weeks trying to avoid prying eyes.  Neither one wanted anyone else to know they’d taken the next step in their relationship just yet.  Needless to say, the cover of darkness was their friend.  Well at least it was until tonight.

          Stephanie snuck down the hallway and into the kitchen.  The microwave clock read a little after one am.  Her uncle would be waking up around five and that was around the same time the sun came up so she had some time.  Popping on her sneakers, she was about to exit the front door when the knob turned.  The pink girl froze.  Who could it be at this hour?

          Susan opened to the door to find Stephanie standing there.  Puzzled, the nurse quickly closed the door and motioned for the two of them to head into the living room.  Stephanie nodded and they quickly found the couch.

          “So where were you going?”  Susan asked quietly.

          “Where have you been?”  Stephanie gave her a look.

          “Why don’t we agree to disagree?  Quite obviously we’re both keeping secrets.” The nurse had this “I know what you’re doing” look on her face.  After she and Robbie had talked, she’d agree to stay with him.  The two had been incredibly happy and she’d been able to take a job at FunTown Hospital after quitting her old job.  Later that morning the two were renting a U-Haul and driving to FunkyTown to empty her apartment.

          “All right.  Do I wanna know what Robbie and you were up to?”  Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

          “Probably not but I’d wager that you and Sportafruit were going to be doing the same thing.”  Susan tried to hide the smirk crossing her face.

          “Sportafruit?”  The pink one gave her a dirty look.

          “A byproduct of hanging out with Robbie.  Sorry.”  She smiled but wasn’t going to let her young friend get away that easily.

          “So you and he are…?”

          “If you must know, yes.” Despite the fact that the only light in the room was coming from the moonlit window, Susan could see Stephanie blush.    

          “Keeping it from your Uncle?”  She wondered.  Stephanie nodded.

          “All right well your secret is safe with me.  Go on.  I’m heading back to bed.”  The nurse smiled again and left the pink one on the couch.  Getting her thoughts in order, Stephanie quickly rushed out the door.

          She didn’t notice that someone was watching her every move as she ran toward the awaiting ladder.  The person smirked thinking how nice it would be to get some cameras up in that airship and then plaster the videos all over YouTube ©.  Of course, he could make himself a copy for any tips.

          He realized that his quarry had disappeared and he quickly snuck back to his hiding spot in the old tree house.  Grabbing all of his gear, the man headed for the nearest hotel to get a good night sleep.  Tomorrow would be a big day and he’d need to be on his game. 


	2. Chapter 2

The sun rose as it always did in LazyTown, happy to shine light on the scary places where bad dreams and evil villains hid.  Stephanie had just managed to get back into her own bed when she heard the shower come on.  Heaving a sigh, she made sure her dark pink curtains were closed and she tried to get some extra sleep.

Milford didn’t wake his niece.  There was no need since she didn’t have to go to work or college.  It had all fallen by the wayside since she’d started crime fighting.  Not that he minded her crime fighting.  LazyTown needed it and sometimes things were just too big for the police to handle.  Besides there was talk of she and Sportacus starting their own gym where they could do what they did best, stay healthy.  Both were looking to reach the older people of the community as well as the children.  They seemed to be closer than ever and it would be nice for a new business to come into town.

The Mayor grabbed his travel coffee mug and headed out the front door of the house only thirty minutes after exiting the shower.  Miss Busybody would be happy to see him arriving on time today.  While he had been busy with helping the Police Chief with the recent crime activity, she’d basically been doing all of his paperwork and leaving it for him to sign.  There were times where she’d refused to let him leave his office before signing things and occasionally she’d threatened to forge his signature on things he hadn’t even read.

“Good morning Bessie.”  He smiled at his secretary as he entered Town Hall.

“Good morning Milford.  We have a Town Council meeting at nine.  I have the motions that will go before them on your desk.”  She smiled back.

“Very good.  I’ll read them in a moment.  Any other meetings today?”  He wondered.

“You have a dentist appointment at three but other than that, today looks to be pretty quiet.”  Bessie informed him.

“Excellent.  Days like today are my kind of days.”  Milford smiled again before heading into his office.

Nine o’clock drew near and Milford headed to the Town Council meeting.  He’d read all the motions in front of them and made some decisions.  There were some questions too but all in all the meeting should go smoothly.

“Good morning everyone.”  He smiled as he took his seat.

“Good morning Mayor.”  One of his friends, Councilmember Tom Cavanaugh, smiled back.

“Looks like another easy meeting Mayor.”  Councilmember Shirley Franks nodded.

“Aren’t they always?”  Councilmember Peter Varga chuckled.  This made them all laugh.  Most of the motions in front of them dealt with the usual problems in LazyTown like where a new playground should be built, noise ordinances, neighbor disputes, and the occasional new business request.

People started to fill into the room and the Mayor surveyed the faces.  He recognized everyone (LazyTown was a small town after all).  Well almost everyone.  One man stood out among the small crowd.  He was tall with dark hair that was cropped close.  He didn’t smile but neither did he wear a frown.  However the man was forgotten, when Tom banged his gavel to announce the start of the meeting.

“This Town Council meeting is now in order.  We will now here the first motion before us.  Would a Mr. Anthony Josam please step forward.”  That man that the Mayor had picked out stepped up to the podium to address the Council.

“Thank you Councilmember.  I am here today to discuss a new noise ordinance.”  Josam spoke in a firm tone but not harshly.

“Pardon the interruption but I do not recognize you.  Have you recently moved to LazyTown?”  Milford asked.

“I have indeed.  I don’t have a permanent address yet as I am still finalizing the deal with the realtors but I will be living here soon.”  Josam gave a slight smile.

“Excellent.  Then welcome to LazyTown.  Now what noise ordinance do you wish to discuss?”  Milford smiled back at him.  Josam reached inside his coat as if to find a speech he’d written but instead he pulled a nine-millimeter handgun from the pocket and aimed it at the ceiling.  Squeezing off a round, everyone in the room hit the floor and a few people screamed.

“It’s the ordinance that deals with you shutting your trap forever.”  Josam smirked as he moved the barrel of the gun in the Mayor’s direction.


	3. Chapter 3

“I want some of those benches placed in front of the doors.  If anyone tries to escape we’ll find out how good my aim is.”  Josam pulled another weapon from inside his coat only this time it was a sawed off shotgun.  Quickly three men got up off the floor and pushed the nearest bench in front of the double doors.  They were the push-in type and the more weight that was placed in front of them the better.

          “Stack them and use this chain to lash the doors together.”  Josam tossed a chain that was inside the podium base that he’d placed there the day before.  He kept a watchful eye on both the doors and the mayor.  One wrong move and someone would be finding themselves in big trouble.

          “All right now get everyone seated in these first row benches.”  He ordered.  Quickly the three men rounded up the remaining room inhabitants including the Mayor and the Councilmembers.  They were all sitting in front of the villain scared out of their minds.  Josam quickly took stock of who was in the room.  There were seven civilians and four political prisoners.  Of the bunch, three were women, leaving the remaining eight people men.  All of them looked too scared to try to take him on which only fuelled his arrogance.

          “Now we just sit back and wait.”  Josam smirked.  Looks of confusion spread among them but no one said anything.

          Outside, security had already called the police who were trying to get a hold of Stephanie.  Sportacus was nowhere to be seen and it wasn’t good.  Little did they know that the above average hero was watching everything from the safety of his perch in a tree near the council room windows.  They were up too high for anyone to get up and cover them but it seemed the villain had other plans.

          BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!  All three windows had the glass blown out of them and bullets went zipping by the above average hero narrowly missing him.  No reflections could be looked at now and anyone sticking their head near those windows could very likely get their head blown off.  The position in the tree was no longer useful and he quickly climbed down the arbor and headed inside to meet the police when they got there.

          Meanwhile, Chief Dooright arrived at the Mayor’s house to find Stephanie waiting outside for him.

          “What happened?”  She asked as she climbed into his police cruiser. 

          “Someone has taken your Uncle and ten other hostages inside the council room.”  The Chief explained. 

          “How did this happen?”  The pink haired girl was starting to get upset.

          “There are no metal detectors inside Town Hall.  You should know that better than anyone.  The security guards don’t even have guns.  We’ve never had any problems with people bringing in weapons.”  He told her as they raced toward the scene.

          “Where is Sportacus?”  Stephanie wanted to know.

          “We can’t find him.”  Dooright said as his radio crackled to life.

          “Attention all personnel, Sportacus is on the scene.  I repeat; Sportacus is on the scene.  No demands have been made from the kidnapper.  That is all.”

          “At least we know where Sportacus is.”  The Chief smiled slightly as he wheeled the cruiser into a space in front of Town Hall.

          “Chief!  Come quick!”  An officer shouted.  Stephanie recognized him as Officer O’Keefe and she hoped that he’d had a chance to speak to her blue hero.

          “What is it O’Keefe?”  Dooright asked.

          “The kidnapper made only one demand and…” the officer didn’t get to finish as shots rang out inside the council room.

          “What did he want?!”  Dooright demanded.

          “He wanted Sportacus and Stephanie inside there within the next five minutes or he’s going to start killing hostages.”  O’Keefe told him.

          “If he hasn’t killed one already.”  Dooright shook his head as Sportacus rushed up to greet them.


	4. Chapter 4

Five minutes didn’t give them a lot of time but it gave them just enough to wish their friends the best of luck.  The police had set up barriers and the SWAT team kneeled behind them, automatic weapons at the ready.

          “Do we just knock?”  Sportacus asked.  If he was nervous, the tone of his voice didn’t give it away.

          “I guess.  Actually why don’t you announce yourselves first; we wouldn’t want this maniac to shoot someone because he thought it was the cops.”  Chief Dooright told them.

          “Ok here we go.”  The above average hero gave Stephanie’s shoulder a squeeze before they walked up to the doors.

          “Sir, it is Sportacus and Stephanie as you requested.”  The blue elf called out.

          “Come in.  Don’t try anything funny or I may have to shoot your beloved Uncle, Stephanie.”  The words made Stephanie cringe.  Ever since she’d moved to LazyTown everyone she cared about managed to get hurt or permanently damaged.  A thought raised in the back of her mind that maybe they’d be better off if she disappeared, but she pushed it completely out of her head.

          Sportacus used his massive muscles to push the doors open wide enough for them to squeeze through.  He could have broken the chain but he didn’t want to set the guy off.  Stephanie watched the effect it had on his physique and she shivered.  _No time for being horny now_ , she chided herself.  Although the thought of it being possibly the last time crossed her mind she knew that they had to work together to avoid making that statement true.

          “Ah there you are.  So nice of you to join us.  I would hate to have to kill an innocent bystander because of you.”  Josam smirked as he watched them climb under the chain and around the benches.

          “Be so good as to push the furniture back to where it was.”  He continued.  Sportacus didn’t say anything as he did what he’d been told.

          “There that’s better.”  Surprisingly, the assassin lowered his weapon and placed it on the podium.  Well it was surprising until he lifted up his vest.

          “Any attempts to move near me and I’ll push this little detonator button.”  He showed off the detonator in his hand and Sportacus stared intently at the bomb he’d strapped to his chest.

          “Nice use of explosives.”  The hero commented.

          “Nice to know my handy work can be appreciated.  Although you know more about explosives than you’re letting on.”  Josam smiled as he laid the bait.

          “Only enough to know that if you push that button, I’ll be joining my father and Odin in Valhalla earlier than I should.”  Sportacus didn’t bite and the game of cat and mouse continued.  While the hero kept Josam distracted, Stephanie noticed the pen in her Uncle’s breast pocket.  She gave a slight smile to him and he nodded.

          Over at Pixel’s house, the Gizmo Guy was watching the live feed from the video pen in the Mayor’s pocket.  Glad that he’d been supplying the Mayor with pen refills he quickly dialed Robbie’s number.  He needed some help when it came to this type of stuff.  The ex-villain knew more about explosives than anyone else in town.  He needed to know if the button was pushed how many people would in fact be killed or if the new villain was yanking everyone’s chain.

          “You’d better get over here quick.  We’ve got…” Pixel didn’t even finish his sentence as Robbie appeared on the platform for the Teleporter.

          “It’s all over the news.  What have we got?”  The purple suit wearing man wanted to know.  Pixel quickly rewound the video and showed him.

          “He disguised C4 under his vest to make him look like he was a little overweight.  Genius.”  Robbie muttered.

          “Focus.”  Pixel reminded him.

          “Of course.”  Robbie shook his head and retrained his eyes on the screen.

          “I’d say he has enough to cause catastrophic failure in the supporting beams of the room.  That in turn may cause the rest of the building to collapse.  Do you have the plans for the building?”  He asked.

          “Coming up.”  Pixel quickly retrieved them and put them on a separate screen so they could keep an eye on the situation. 

          “Get the Chief on the line.”  Robbie told him.


	5. Chapter 5

“Robbie Rotten is on the phone Chief.  He says he has to talk to you right away,” O’Keefe told his superior officer after the message had been passed to him from a security guard.

          “I’ll go talk to him.  Keep an eye on the situation and SWAT.  I don’t want anybody shooting anything until we have a better understanding of our kidnapper.”  Dooright instructed.  He quickly ran off to the waiting ex-villain who was on the phone inside the town’s licensing office.

          “What do you want Robbie?  We’re a little busy down here.”  The Chief said into the receiver.

          “The Mayor has his camera pen in his pocket and its streaming live footage into Poodle’s computer.  Now if you’d like me to hang up, I will.”  Robbie got snarky with the head policeman.

          “No, don’t do that.”  It was as close to an apology Robbie was going to get so he continued.

          “Our friendly assassin is loaded with explosives around his middle section.  I’d say it’s a pipe bomb, which would successfully kill or maim everyone in that room.  Not to mention the structural damage to the room and building.  We could be looking at partial building collapse if he pushes that button.  I’d evacuate everyone who doesn’t need to be there and do it fast.” 

          “Already done.  All we have is police personnel and the security guards.”  Dooright explained.

          “By his behavior so far, I’d say we have a pro.  He will know if you try to send SWAT in the back of the room or through the ventilation shafts.  However that does not stop you from shutting off the AC.  It’ll hotter than hell in there but it will make him squirm.  It might give Sportadork a window of opportunity to remove the detonator from his hands.”  Robbie said as his mind focused on the building plans. 

          “We don’t want the guy getting sweaty and dropping the detonator.  He’s wearing a sweater and that bomb vest; he’ll be sweating all over the joint.  That’s why we didn’t shut down the air before.”  The Police Chief told him. 

          “Just do it.  Sportacus is fast enough if he does drop it, however unlikely.  Now listen very carefully.  There is a tunnel underneath the room that leads to a trap door behind the council’s large judging panel.  A team could enter there, undetected and catch our baddie unaware.  The start of the tunnel is in the Mayor’s council office.  Use it to get some SWAT guys in there.  I’ll call again when we have an ID on this guy.”  The purple wearing man hung up before Dooright could say anything more.

          “Facial recognition is running him through all the criminal databases but so far nothing.”  Pixel heaved a sigh as he turned his head from the third monitor to the live scene before them on the monitor in the middle.

          “Hopefully we’ll get lucky.  In the meantime, keep an eye on the situation.  I need to look for any more tunnels under the building.  I’m guessing these were built for the purpose of hiding slaves.  Although I’m sure they were used in the riots back before you were born.”  Robbie used the wireless keyboard that Pixel had given to flip through the drawings as he spoke.

          “Riots?”  The Gizmo Guy had not heard about any riots.

          “Ten years before you were born, LazyTown was in political upheaval.  There had been accusations of bribes being given, taxpayer money was being wasted, and the unemployment rate had skyrocketed.  Then when the general election for a new Mayor was cancelled because of threats aimed at polling places, things got really ugly.”  The older man continued to examine drawings without looking to Pixel, who was trying to focus on three different things at once.

          “Who was threatening the polling places?”  Pixel asked.

          “They never found out but the reason they were being threatened was because no one was running against the Mayor at the time.  All those who had stepped forward to try to end his political days either disappeared or were paid to back out.  So when they closed the polling places and the Mayor said he won the race that no one else was running in, people took to the streets.  Eventually the Town Hall was burned to the ground and the Mayor tried to escape.  Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get very far.  A group of rioters caught him, tied him to a pole, stripped his clothes off, and then tarred and feathered him before hanging him by his ankles from a tree branch.  They were about to start beating him like a piñata with baseball bats when Milford stepped out of the mess and stood in front of the poor bastard.  By now, all of the rioting had focused on the Mayor so when Milford did what he did they were going to do the same to him until he convinced them otherwise.  Hence why Milford has been the Mayor so long and why things run so smoothly in LazyTown.”  Robbie finished the story, which only left Pixel wanting more.  He was about to ask what the current Mayor did when he saw movement on the screen and he quickly turned to see what it was.

          “The kidnapper is pointing his gun at Sportacus’ forehead!”  The Gizmo Guy couldn’t believe his eyes.  Robbie came up behind him and made a Spock-like move knocking the poor boy unconscious before jumping onto the Teleporter pad and pressing the buttons.


	6. Chapter 6

“Are you prepared to die for these people?”  Josam asked the above average hero.

          “I am prepared to do anything that is necessary.”  Sportacus replied.

          “Including stopping me?”  The bomb wearing man wondered.

          “If you are intent on blowing us up, then yes.”  The blue elf told him.  Josam nodded.    The hero had no intention of joining him in any cause and to speak of one would only confuse the matter.  Also the hero had been smart enough to not blab about his involvement in the Ministry Headquarters explosion.

          “Then I have only one option open to me.  I must kill you.”  Josam smirked.  Sportacus said nothing and braced himself for death.  If he tried to stop this madman, he could set off the bomb or accidentally shoot someone else.  He only hoped that Stephanie knew how much he loved her and then closed his eyes.  He waited but nothing happened.  Suddenly he could hear a familiar voice.

          “I’d drop that gun if I was you.”  Josam swirled around and was startled to find a very tall man standing near the Mayor’s seat at the judging table holding a small handgun.

          “Ah Mr. Rotten so we meet at last.”  Robbie looked at him but managed to hide his confusion.  Somehow this guy knew him, despite the fact they never actually met in person before.  Then something clicked and he now knew where this man was from.

          “I see the Ministry must be paying their workers well.  You have enough pipe bomb there to blow us all to smithereens.  That type of work doesn’t come cheap.”  Robbie told him.

          “You know your explosives sir.”  The assassin said.

          “You learn a lot of things while in prison.  Now put the gun down and hand Sportacus that little detonator stick and we’ll all go home happy.”  Robbie continued to aim his weapon at the man.

          “Now why would I want to do that?  I certainly won’t be going home but then again that was never my intention.” Josam dropped the gun but continued to hold onto the detonator.  He had Robbie in between a rock and a hard place.  If he attempted to kill him with his weapon, there was always a chance that he’d push the button and blow everyone up.  He would definitely push the button if the shot missed or hit him somewhere non-lethal.

          “Afraid to pull the trigger Rotten?”  Josam’s face still held that smirk.

          “Never.  Just weighing my options.”  Robbie told him.  The Ministry’s head honcho just chuckled.

          “Not man enough to live with the possibility of killing everyone in this room, including yourself?”

          “I used to be in your shoes.  Never had any qualms about death, just wanted to avoid it.  Besides, killing is not something I relish.  Pain and suffering, ok but killing…” Robbie trailed off, hoping he was buying some time.

          “I was right.  Not man enough.  Someone cut your balls off.”  That insult made the purple wearing man, very upset.  Upset enough that he fired one shot into Josam’s knee.  The man fell down and Sportacus caught him.  Stephanie was at his side in an instant and she grabbed the detonator.

          “Man enough for you now?”  She asked Josam.

          “Stupid girl.  You have no idea what you have started.”  He gritted his teeth but made no move to stop the bleeding in his right knee.

          “What I started?  You and your buddies started this.  We’re going to finish it.”  Stephanie smirked as the SWAT team came barreling up through the floor.  They secured the room and got all the hostages out, leaving only Robbie, Sportacus, and Stephanie behind.

          “Well looks like we’d better get the bomb squad to get that bomb off of him before we ship him to the hospital.” SWAT Team Leader Ruskin said.

          “Sounds good.”  Sportacus said as he laid Josam onto the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

With the hostage taker en-route to the secure wing at the hospital and the bomb secured, the three friends headed out the doors after clearing away the furniture.  The chain was taken by the sole forensic expert in all of LazyTown to be dusted for prints.

          “What do you think he meant when he said, ‘You have no idea what you have started.’?” Stephanie asked as the headed to find where the Mayor had been taken.

          “Maybe numbnut was a distraction.  Maybe he was trying to make us think he was a distraction.  He obviously had no intention of letting you guys live.  You think he knows…” Robbie trailed off.

          “How could he?  Thanks to the malfunctioning robot, everything was FUBR.”  Sportacus said.

          “FUBR?”  You kids and your new lingo.  I tell you.”  Robbie didn’t know what it meant and the above average hero told him they’d talk about it later.  Stephanie however did know what it meant and she gave the blue suited man a punch in the arm.

          “I’m going to have to wash your mouth out with soap for that.”

          “Oh I’m looking forward to it.”  Sportacus teased.  Robbie could be heard making gagging noises.  Granted, he had a girlfriend now too but still.

          “Robbie, I don’t know what to do with you.”  Chief Dooright said as he approached the group.  He pointed in the direction in where the Mayor and the Council members were being checked out.

          “What?  I’m just that good.  What can I tell you?”  This made Sportacus chuckle and Stephanie couldn’t help but giggle as they followed the Chief and Robbie.

          “Where did you get that weapon?  You’re on parole mister.  I could have your ass thrown back in jail so fast…” there was only a hint of seriousness in the Police Chief’s voice but Robbie knew where he was coming from.

          “You’d be surprised what Poodle keeps on hand.”  Robbie smirked.

          “I’ll have to talk to that boy.  Bad influences, every one of you.”  This time the Chief smirked.

          “Any ideas on who our psychopath was?”  Now the conversation took a more serious tone and Sportacus answered Dooright’s question.

          “Best guess is that he works for the Ministry.”

          “I have Pixel running facial recognition and you have your crime scene guy checking fingerprints.  He’s got to be in the system somewhere.”  Robbie piped in.

          “Ok between that and checking the bomb parts for a manufacturer and where things were shipped, hopefully we’ll get lucky.  The Mayor is down here in the small conference room.”  Dooright pointed.

          “Thanks.”  Stephanie smiled and rushed into see her only living relative.

          “Uncle Milford!”  She pulled him into a hug.

          “Stephanie!  I’m glad you’re all right.  It was very scary today.”  Milford admitted as they pulled apart a few moments later.

          “It was but once again the day was saved.”  Sportacus smiled and stuck out his hand for the Mayor to shake.  Instead he found himself wrapped in a hug.  The hero had a confused look on his face and Stephanie pried her Uncle off.

          “Save that for Bessie.”  She teased.  Her Uncle looked mortified before continuing,

          “Once again you saved the day.”

          “I think the credit goes to Robbie on this one.”  Sportacus said.

          “I’ll skip the hug and settle for a handshake.”  The villain smiled slightly.

          “And I’ll not mention the parole violation during my press conference in half an hour.  Now why don’t you guys go home?  You deserve the rest of the day off.”  Milford smiled.  They all thanked him and headed out of the room.

          Once outside the building, they all decided that Robbie had better call Susan before she heard about what happened on the news.  He promised he would and headed to Pixel’s place, which left Sportacus and Stephanie alone for the next few hours.

          “I’ll race you to my house.”  She smirked.

          “Oh really.  You think you can win?”  He teased.

          “Lets make it interesting.  I win and we discuss your use of foul language.  You win and we can do…” the sentence hung there as Stephanie got a head start.  Sportacus chuckled as he raced after her.  Since her transfusion, she had grown faster but not as fast as him and he beat her to the door.

          “I win.”  He laughed.

          “I let you.”  She winked at him and opened the front door.  Once inside they rushed to her bedroom.

          “Like little rabbits.”  Bobbie shook his head as he and Danny hid in the bushes across the street from the house.

          “Its disgusting but it seems the boss’s plan worked.”  Danny smirked.

          “Ok now comes part two.”  Bobbie told him.  They quickly worked their way out of the bushes and went to a nearby van.  Bobbie hopped into the drivers seat and made their way to their hideout.


	8. Chapter 8

By the time the Mayor returned home, he found Stephanie and Sportacus on the couch watching the news in the living room.  He smiled as he took a seat in the nearby armchair.  When the next commercial came on, both turned to the Mayor.

          “So the press conference went ok?”  Stephanie asked.

          “I think so.  People were glad to hear I was still in one piece.  That and their beloved heroes saved the day again.”  Milford nodded.

          “Well it seems that our little adventure this afternoon didn’t go unnoticed by the world news.”  Sportacus pointed at the TV screen and shook his head.

          “I’m sure the locals leaked it to their national affiliates.  It isn’t every day a Mayor and his Council gets kidnapped.”  Milford said.

          “I suppose that true.  Still no word from Pixel or the Crime Lab about the ID of our kidnapper but they’re working on it.”  The above average hero told them.

          “Good.  In the meantime, Bessie promised to be over to make dinner.  She didn’t want me to cook today.”  The Mayor explained.

          “Well that was nice of her.”  Stephanie smiled as she moved her hand into Sportacus’.  He gave her hand a squeeze.

          “Yes well I wish she wouldn’t worry so.  I don’t want her ruining her afternoon plans to cook dinner.”  Her Uncle said.

          “But she likes you and wants to do nice things for you.  Let her.”  Sportacus smiled and gave him a wink.

          “He’s right.  I mean Sportacus likes me and does nice things for me.”  Stephanie giggled as the blue suited hero leaned over and kissed her temple.  The Mayor heaved a sigh and shook his head.

          “I’m a little old for all this love stuff.”  He told them.

          “Never too old Mayor.”  Sportacus then used his free hand to reach behind Stephanie and pick her up.  Placing her on his lap, he got a better grip and smirked.

          “Off to the bathroom to wash up.”  He laughed as Stephanie tried to wiggle free from his grasp.  The two of them were laughing all the way down the hall and Milford chuckled.  He turned off the television and headed for the kitchen.  He scooped up all the paperwork on the kitchen table and walked down the hallway to his private office.  Placing the papers down, he heard the doorbell ring and quickly went to answer it.  He wondered what was taking Sportacus and Stephanie so long to wash their hands but he just shook the thought out of his head when he saw Bessie standing on the other side of the door.  He had bigger problems to worry about.

          “Oh Milford.  I hope you are hungry.”  Miss Busybody smiled as she walked inside and removed her shoes.  She carried a grocery sack and he took it from her and placed it on the table.

          “Starving.”  He smiled back.

          “Hi Bessie!”  Stephanie shouted as she entered the kitchen with Sportacus right behind.

          “Hello!”  Bessie went over and pulled the younger woman into a hug.  After the death of her parents, Stephanie had often gone to Bessie for advice on girly matters.  They had grown close and looked forward to spending time together.

          “Sportacus, it is good to see you too!”  Bessie gave him a hug as well.

          “Likewise.  Now what do you have there?”  He wondered, looking at the bag.

          “Never you mind.”  She winked.  Sportacus smiled.  Despite being only a so-so secretary, Bessie’s cooking was second to none.  Everyone was looking forward to dinner when Sportacus’ crystal blared loudly.

          “Uh oh.”  He said.

          “What is it?”  Stephanie asked, already popping on her sneakers.

          “Something has happened at Trixie’s house.”  Was all he said as the two quickly rushed out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

The two heroes arrived at Trixie’s to find the mailbox lying on the ground.  Stephanie quickly examined the post and drew Sportacus’ attention to it.

          “It looks like it was blown off by bullets.”  She said.

          “Explains the bullet holes in the windows.  Dial the Chief.  We may need medical assistance.”  He told her before he headed into the house.  Stephanie whipped out her cell phone and dial Chief Dooright’s emergency number.  As soon as the Chief heard it ring he had dispatch get a GPS lock on the location and send emergency personnel.  The call made, the pink haired girl entered the house.

          “Over here!”  Sportacus called her.  She rushed over to find him pressing his hands over a wound in Trixie’s stomach.

          “Trixie!”  Her best friend sank to her knees to talk to her.

          “I knew you’d show up Pinky.”  Trixie’s voice was low and she coughed.

          “Don’t speak too much.  Help is on the way.”  Stephanie tried to reassure her.

          “Get me a bathroom towel.  I need something more to staunch the blood flow.”  Sportacus instructed.  Stephanie was off like a shot down the hall and into the bathroom.

          “Trixie, I need you to stay with me.  Is anyone else at home?”  The above average hero asked the wounded girl.

          “Mom is at work.  Stingy…” she trailed off just as Stephanie arrived with the towel.  The two worked together and got the towel were Sportacus needed it.  Sirens could be heard and both heaved a little sigh of relief but they knew they weren’t out of the woods yet.

          “What about Stingy, Trixie?”  He asked her once again.

          “He was on his way over.”  She told them.

          “He wasn’t in the front yard.”  Stephanie reminded the blue elf.

          “Run outside and see if you can see him coming.  The last thing we need is him panicking.”  He said.  Stephanie nodded and rushed outside.  She didn’t see the miser.  Both sides of the sidewalk and across the street were empty.  Stingy only lived one block over.  There was no way he wasn’t there yet or hadn’t heard the sirens or even the gunshots.  The ambulance pulling up followed by three squad cars and that shook her from her train of thought.

          “Inside hurry!”  She shouted to them.  The paramedics were off as fast as they could from their ambulance into the house.

          “What happened?”  One of the officers asked as the three had left their vehicles and approached Stephanie.

          “Trixie was shot in an apparent drive by and Stingy is missing.”  She explained.

          “I’ll put out an alert.”  The second officer said.

          “I’ll call forensics.”  The third officer offered. 

          “Someone needs to call Trixie’s mom.”  The first officer told her.

          “I should ride with her to the hospital.  Sportacus or the Chief should call her mom.”  Stephanie said.

          “Yes ma’am.” He nodded and grabbed his shoulder radio.  Stephanie left him and saw the paramedics wheeling her friend over to the waiting ambulance.

          “I’m going with her.”  She said.

          “I’ll handle things here.”  Sportacus nodded and gave her a small smile.  Trixie was quickly loaded into the vehicle and it sped off toward FunTown.  Sportacus looked down at his hands and shook his head.  Trixie had lost a lot of blood.  He hoped the paramedics and doctors could work their magic fast.


	10. Chapter 10

“So you’re the one they call Stingy.”  A smirk crossed Bobbie’s face as he stood in front of the miserly boy who was bound and gagged in a chair inside the two men’s hideout.  They hadn’t bothered to cover their faces, which didn’t bode well for Stingy.

          “I wonder if his name means he won’t tell us what we want to know.”  Danny said.

          “Oh somehow I believe he’ll tell us if he wants to see his beloved Trixie again.”  Bobbie told him as he removed the gag.

          “What did you do to her?”  Stingy asked them.

          “You’ll find out soon enough.  Now tell us what we want to know or your right kneecap will take a permanent holiday.”  Danny smirked as he pressed his nine-millimeter handgun to the joint he’d just mentioned.

          “What do you want?”  Stingy asked.

          “We want to know where our boss is.  You see he came here the other day and got himself arrested.  It was all part of the plan but he’s not in the county lockup and he’s not at LazyTown’s Police Headquarters.”  Bobbie explained.

          “I don’t know.  Those would have been the first places I would have looked.”  The miser said.

          “See now we know you’re lying because we know you were part of the group that blew up headquarters.  Surely they would tell you the workings of this town when a major crime is committed.”  Bobbie told him.  He nodded to Danny who put his finger around the trigger and began to squeeze.

          “No they don’t!”  Stingy squealed and Danny released the trigger.  The boy heaved a large sigh of relief for his kneecap.

          “So you’re saying you’re completely useless to us?”  Bobbie wanted to know.  Danny still held a firm grip on his weapon and was pointing it in the miser’s direction.

          “Not completely.”  Stingy tried to think on his feet.  Being useless would just get him killed.

          “By now, I’m sure someone has noticed I’m missing.  If you drop me off at the police station, I could get them called off and then see if I can find out where your boss is.  What did he do?”  He asked the two hit men.

          “He took the Mayor hostage.”  Danny said.

          “Oh why didn’t you say so?  I can take you to him.”  Stingy hoped that would buy us some time.

          “Oh no.  You tell us and we let you go.  You don’t tell us and we torture you until you squeal.”  Bobbie told him.  By now Stingy had run out of ideas.  He preferred to live but considering the fact that they hadn’t hid their faces, he was pretty sure he was going to die anyway.

          “I can’t tell you.  I have to show you.”  Stingy tried to make them understand.  Bobbie then nodded to Danny who placed the gun back up against Stingy’s kneecap.

          “Last chance.”  Bobbie told him.  Stingy said nothing and Danny squeezed the trigger.  Stingy screamed out in pain before getting the gun slapped across his face.

          “Tell us and we won’t take the other one.”  Bobbie said.  Tears streamed down Stingy’s face but he refused to say anything.  Danny put the gun to the boy’s left kneecap and squeezed the trigger again.  Another scream of pain came from their victim as Bobbie smirked.

          “Apparently, he didn’t like his kneecaps.  What body part should we go for next?”  He asked.

          “I have a good one.”  Danny told him as he aimed the gun at Stingy’s crotch.

          “So do you want to become a eunuch or will you tell us what we want to know?”  Bobbie wondered how tough this young man could be when it came to his most private of areas. 

          “I’m going to count to five and then my associate will do what he must.  One… Two… Three… Four…”

          “Ok!  I’ll tell you!”  Stingy shouted.

          “Excellent.  Now where is our boss?”  Bobbie wanted to know.

          “The secure wing at FunTown Hospital.”  The torture victim told them. 

          “See that wasn’t so hard.”  Bobbie turned to Danny and said, “Take care of him.  Try not to make a mess.”  Danny smirked.

          “No problem.” 


	11. Chapter 11

Stephanie paced back and forth in the waiting room, hoping to hear something good about Trixie.  A nurse came rushing into the room and told her she had a phone call from Sportacus.  That didn’t sound very good and she rushed out of the room with the nurse.

          “Sportacus what is going on?”  She asked upon receiving the phone.

          “Another ambulance is on its way to the hospital.  I need you to meet it and find out how the patient is.”  The above average hero told her.

          “What happened?”  Stephanie didn’t like where this was going.

          “It’s a long story but what is really important is that you find Stingy and see how he is.”  Sportacus explained leaving out the details of the miser’s rescue and the extent of his injuries.

          “Stingy?”  Her voice wavered. 

          “How is Trixie?”  He asked, trying to change the subject.

          “She’s still in surgery.  I’ll look out for the ambulance.”  The pink haired one promised.

          “Ok.  Call when you get any information about them.”  Sportacus said.  Stephanie nodded despite the fact he couldn’t see that and then hung up.  Turning to the nurse, she said,

          “There is an incoming ambulance I need to find.”

          “Another victim from LazyTown?”  She asked.

          “Yes.  His name is Stingy.”  Stephanie explained.

          “All right, I’ll call the police and they’ll patch me to dispatch.”  The nurse quickly picked the phone back up and made the call. 

          “Stephanie, good news!”  Dr. Budmark smiled as he walked down the hall.

          “I could use some about now.”  She only half smiled.

          “The surgery was a success.  We still have to wait for the anesthesia to wear off but Trixie should be leaving here in about a week to ten days.”  His smile disappeared after seeing the look on Stephanie’s face.

          “That’s great Doc.  I have another friend who is being transported here.  I need to find out how he is.  Sportacus didn’t sound very hopeful.”  She heaved a sigh.  Somehow in the middle of all of this someone was going to have to tell Trixie what was going on and she hoped it would be good news.

          “We’ve got an ambulance unloading Stingy right now down at the emergency doors.”  The nurse interrupted and both Dr. Budmark and Stephanie ran for the nearby staircase.  They ran down the flight of stairs to the floor below and immediately saw the nurses wheeling the gurney into an elevator.  The doctor called for them to hold the doors and the two quickly entered the elevator car.

          “What do we have?”  Budmark asked.

          “One GSW to each kneecap and one to the chest.”  One of the nurses spoke up while the others tried to keep Stingy breathing.

          “Possible collapsed lung and internal bleeding, breathing is shallow, pulse thready.  He’s lost a lot of blood.  Surgery is already prepping.”  She continued as the elevator door opened and they rushed out of the elevator.

          The nurse at the door grabbed Stephanie as the other nurses and Dr. Budmark continued on down the hall.

          “You have to wait here.”  She told her.  Stephanie nodded but inside her a rage was beginning to bubble.  This all started when that man attempted to kill her Uncle.  She knew what floor he would be on and she quickly left the desk and headed back to the elevator.  She’d never felt so angry and yet it didn’t seem to bother her either.  The man would know who had done such horrible things to her friends and he would tell her or there would be hell to pay.


	12. Chapter 12

“Something is very wrong here.”  Sportacus said as he paced inside Chief Dooright’s office.

          “What is right with this whole thing?  I just had to call up parents to tell them their children have been shot.”  Dooright shook his head from his seat behind his desk.

          “There is that but I mean about how we found Stingy.  Its obvious they had every intention of killing him and yet you get an anonymous call to dispatch telling you where to find him.”  The above average hero stopped pacing and looked Bradley in the eyes.

          “I’ll admit that was weird but they might have saved Stingy’s life.”  The Chief said.

          “There is an ulterior motive here. Why take Stingy?  Why not just shoot him and be done with it?”  Sportacus wondered.  Dooright saw his friend’s train of thought and was about to say something when Officer O’Keefe busted into the room.

          “I’ve got Rotten on line one.  He’s says it’s really important.” 

          “Pass him through.”  Dooright told him urgently.  O’Keefe left the room and the Chief picked up the call.

          “What is it Robbie?”  The conversation wasn’t much of a conversation as the phone call ended almost as quickly as it had started.

          “Robbie and Pixel identified our shooter.  Goes by the name of Josam.”  Dooright explained as he hung up.

          “Josam what?”  Sportacus asked.

          “Josam.  There is no last name.  He’s the suspected leader of The Ministry.”  The lawman told him.

          “So his cronies we ran into last time must have captured Stingy to find out where he was being held.”  The above average hero’s eyes grew to about twice their size as the realization hit him.

          “The hospital, you’d better…” Dooright didn’t get a chance to finish as Sportacus was already out the door.  Everyone that was anywhere near the secure wing was in trouble.

          “Beam me to FunTown Hospital’s secure wing.”  The blue elf ordered as he burst into Pixel’s room.  Robbie fell off his chair and Pixel practically gave himself whiplash from moving his head to see what was going on.

          “How in the…” Robbie’s sentence didn’t finish as Pixel interrupted him.

          “I have the coordinates.  Get on the platform.”  Sportacus did as he was told and in an instant he was gone.

          “Well you beamed him up Scotty.  Now any ideas what that was all about?”  Robbie asked.  Pixel shrugged and the two just sat in silence for a minute.

          “You think he’ll need back up?”  The Gizmo Guy wondered.

          “Stephanie is there.  They’ll handle it.”  Robbie said confidently.  If only they had known what Sportacus was about to find there.

          The above average hero pixilated and then appeared fully formed right outside Josam’s room.  Both guards freaked out and proceeded to point their weapons at him until they realized who it was.

          “Sorry Sportacus.  How’d you do that?”  One of them asked.

          “Long story.  Anything unusual happen before I got here?”  He asked.

          “No.  Stephanie came by and wanted to see the prisoner but other than that pretty quiet.”  The second replied.  The hero nodded.  Obviously he’d gotten there before anyone else did.  He quickly explained the situation and the guards promised to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.  That’s when alarm bells started ringing and within seconds a medical crew was rushing down the hall wheeling a defibrillator. 

          “Code Blue!”  One of the nurses shouted.  Instantly Sportacus went to Stephanie and what she’d been doing in that room.


	13. Chapter 13

Stephanie was pushed out of the way by the trained medical staff as they entered the room with their equipment.  The hustle and bustle of the room was lost on her as she felt two big hands grab her upper arms.

          “Come on.”  Sportacus shook her out of it and they both went out into the hallway.

          “What happened in there?”  He asked her once he had her back up against the wall opposite from the room.  His hands were placed on the wall, effectively cutting out her escape route.

          “I have no idea.  I was asking him who had shot Trixie and Stingy and then all of a sudden the machine started beeping.”  Stephanie told him.

          “That’s all?”  He asked.  His left eyebrow was raised.

          “You don’t believe me?  After all we’ve been through, you think I’d kill him?”  The tone of her voice rose almost an octave.

          “I know you before your transfusion.  Ever since then you have to admit things are different.  You’re stronger, faster, and you have a shorter fuse.  If he wasn’t telling you what you wanted to hear…” the sentence trailed off as the doctors and nurses wheeled the bed out of the room and rushed down the hall.  From their tones and actions, it was easy to see that they were taking him into surgery.

          “The first thing they are going to do is question you as to what happened in that room especially if he ends up dead.  Tell me the truth.”  Sportacus said.

          “You want the truth?  I thought about it ok?  I had every intention of going in there and torturing him.  I wanted the information and I knew he wasn’t going to give it to me without a really good reason.  But when I got in there, I couldn’t do it.  All I kept thinking about was what you would expect of me and I knew that that wasn’t it.”  Tears began to trickle down Stephanie’s cheeks and she heaved a sigh before sliding down the wall to the floor.  With her knees hugged to her chest, she put her head on top of her arms and continued to cry.  The above average hero was shocked by her admission and sat down beside her.  Silence fell in between both of them.

          “This is my fault.”  He murmured a few minutes later.

          “How is this your fault?”  She asked without looking up.

          “The transfusion had never been attempted before.  No one knew what the consequences were.  I’ve ruined you.”  The blue elf shook his head.

          “You saved my life.  I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for you.”  Stephanie looked up from her spot and then moved toward him.  He said nothing as she leaned her head against his shoulder and took his right hand in her hand. 

          “You remember when I was afraid to tell you how I felt.  I was afraid of what it would bring and you were afraid you’d be kicked out of town.  We both had fears but we took that next step.  Now we’re happy and everyone couldn’t be happier for us.  Things have changed before and they’ll change again.  Help me get rid of those thoughts and we can be us again.  After all this is over, I just want us to be us.  No crime, no explosions, no one getting hurt.  I just want things to go back the way they were.”  She said.

          “We’ll always be the crime fighting team we are now.  That will never change.  Even when I’m in a wheelchair and you’re using a walker.”  He told her, giving her hand a squeeze.  Leaning over, he placed his lips to hers and they shared a brief kiss.

          “You think the old folks home will take us?”  She teased.

          “Depends on what Robbie tells them.”  He laughed and for a moment they both forgot the situation.  It was a brief moment that was interrupted by Dr. Budmark.

          “There you are, Stephanie.  I’ve been looking for you.”  The doctor said.  The two lifted themselves up off the floor and Sportacus shook the man’s hand.

          “Is there news about Stingy?”  She asked, knowing something wasn’t right.  No way had they saved Stingy in less than an hour.

          “Not yet.  I handed him over to our very good core of orthopedic and trauma surgeons.  Trixie is awake and the police have dropped her mother off to see her.  She asked to see you.”  Budmark explained.

          “Ok thanks.”  Stephanie had been dreading this.  How was she supposed to tell her best friend that her boyfriend was in serious condition?  At that moment, a nurse came down the hall followed by a security guard.

          “Stephanie, we need to talk.  Our John Doe is dead.”  The nurse told her.  The security guard took hold of her upper arm and Sportacus stopped him.

          “She didn’t do anything.”  He said.

          “She must answer some questions.  The FunTown police are on their way.”  The guard explained.


	14. Chapter 14

“I didn’t touch him!”  Stephanie tried to make them understand.  The hospital security guards kept trying to get her to slip up, to tell them what she hadn’t done.

          “What is going on in here?”  A man decked out in a blue suit stood in the doorway to the security office.  Sportacus was right behind him.

          “We’re interrogating our suspect until you arrived.”  The first security guard said.

          “You don’t have the authority to do so.  Did you offer her an attorney?”  The man asked as he flashed his FunTown police badge.

          “We were just having a friendly conversation.”  The second guard told him.

          “Uh huh.  This conversation is over.  I want your names and your bosses phone number.  On the double!”  The policeman ordered.  They did as they were told and were then kicked out of the security office.  Sportacus sat next to Stephanie and the ‘friendly conversation’ began.

          “I’m sorry for this ma’am.  My name is Detective Sanchez.  I already received information from Mr. Sportacus and the two guards that were watching the room where the criminal was being held.  I’ve been informed that he could have been the leader of The Ministry.  Did you know that?”

          “No, I didn’t.  I had suspicions he worked for The Ministry but not that kind of suspicion.”  Stephanie couldn’t believe it.

          “I’ve also been in contact with LazyTown PD and they put me in contact with the FBI.  Seems you and your friends have run into these guys more than once.”  Sanchez said.

          “Yes sir.  They’ve tried to kill all of us at one time or another.  Currently two of my friends are being treated here for gunshot wounds.”  The pink haired girl explained.

          “Pardon my forwardness but you have an awful amount of motive for wanting Mr. Josam dead.  Do you want an attorney before we go any further?”  The Detective wondered.

          “I did nothing wrong.  I do not need an attorney.”  She told him.

          “Ok then.  Just so you’re aware, this is only a conversation.  You are not under arrest.”  Stephanie nodded as he continued.

          “Back to your motive, I understand that your friend Stingy is in very serious condition and that your best friend is currently recovering.  You wanted answers and you went looking for the prisoner.”  Sanchez said.

          “This is true.  I knew he must not have come to LazyTown alone.” She replied.

          “We’re currently having all the medical equipment fingerprinted.  We aren’t going to find any of your prints on it are we?”  Sanchez asked.

          “No sir.  I only grabbed his shirt in order to get his attention.”  Stephanie responded.

          “According to the doctors, Josam suffered cardiac arrest but they could not find the cause.  Did he seem to be struggling for air or anything of that nature when you were speaking to him?”  The Detective wanted to know.

          “He seemed fine.  He was certainly throwing the sarcastic comments at me without any difficulty.” She told him.

          “That’s all the questions I have for now.  We’ll be in touch if anything arises.  Until the coroner can give anything you’re free to go.”  He smiled, stood from his seat and left the office.

          “Well that was fun.”  Sportacus said.

          “Loads.  Lets go find Trixie.”  Stephanie told him.  They quickly exited the room themselves and headed for the elevator.  

          Meanwhile, the body of Josam had been wheeled into the room near the loading dock.  Two men dressed in coroner’s office uniforms and driving a coroner’s office van, pulled into the loading dock and were met by two security guards.

          “He’s in there.  Sign here.”  The first one handed a clipboard and log form to them.

          “Alrighty.  Here you are.  Thanks for keeping him cold fellas.”  The second man smiled as he was led to the cold storage room by the guards and the other man opened the back doors of the van.  Within a few minutes, they had him loaded and were off away from the hospital.  The second man waited until they were out on the highway before moving to the back of the van and unzipping the body bag.

          “We’re in the clear boss.”  The man said.

          “Well done Danny.  Well done.”  Josam smirked.


	15. Chapter 15

“How is he?  Tell me the truth.”  Trixie ordered as her friends walked into the room.

          “He’s still in surgery.  His folks have been called and are on their way.”  Stephanie told her.  With the news being the same as what the nurses had told her, Trixie heaved a sigh.  If her friends didn’t know then Stingy was in big trouble.

          “Did you get the guys that did this?”  She asked.

          “We’re on it.  Unfortunately the one man who may have helped us is now dead.”  Sportacus explained.

          “Promise me you’ll get the bastards that did this.”  Trixie ordered.

          “Trixie your language!”  Her mother chided.

          “Promise me!”  The girl ignored her mother completely as she kept her eyes on the two friends.

          “We promise.”  Stephanie smiled before they left the room.

          “The only way to finish this is to head back to LazyTown.”  Sportacus said as he poked his chest emblem.

          “Two to beam up.”  He had a little smile on his face.

          “I’ve always wanted to say that.”  He chuckled just before Pixel brought them back to LazyTown.

          “What do we have boys?”  Stephanie asked as she left the platform and walked over to Pixel and Robbie who were staring intently at one of the many computer screens.

          “Poodle pulled up some video feeds from the camera.  We found the vehicle that shot up Trixie’s house.  We’re fairly confident that that same vehicle dumped Stingy as we traced the phone call to police dispatch to a pay phone in the vicinity of the dump site.”  Robbie explained.

          “Any plates?”  Sportacus wondered.

          “I’m enhancing the image now.  So far my algorithm has deciphered three numbers from the reversed image we got off the plate’s reflection in the back of the vehicle parked behind it.  They were smart to leave Stingy at the Park ‘N’ Ride because no one is there during the day but stupid enough to park next to another vehicle with shiny chrome bumpers.”  Pixel said without looking to his friends.

          “Excellent.  Any more news from our arrested baddy?”  Robbie wondered.

          “No.  He’s dead and they think I killed him.”  Stephanie heaved a sigh.

          “I always knew you had it in you Pinky.  Just figured you’d wait until we were done with the case.”  The purple wearing man smirked.

          “I didn’t do it.  He just stopped talking to me and the heart monitor went all nutty.  Next thing I know, I’m being accused of murder.”  The pink one shook her head.

          “Probably another Ministry trick.  You know I have a stash of the monthly newsletters that I turned over to Chief Dooright.  Maybe they’ll give us some answers to a chemical compound that might have been used.”  The ex-con told them.

          “Monthly newsletters?”  Sportacus asked.

          “Yeah.  I found them after the whole robot debacle.  They were backing up in my mailbox for years.  The postmaster finally yelled at me and handed me three huge boxes they’d been stashing at the post office.  Apparently they sent me notices but I never got them.”  Robbie explained.

          “Just part of being a villain right?  Never check your mail?”  Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

          “You never know.  Could’ve been a bomb in there.”  He shrugged.  Picking up the phone, he dialed the Chief’s number before putting it on speaker.

          “Dooright.”

          “Chiefy-poo this is Robbie.  You know those newsletters I gave you guys?”

          “Yes.”  The Chief said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

          “We need to sift through them.  Can I send Sportakook over to get them?”  Robbie wondered.

          “Sure.  I’ll have O’Keefe pull them from the basement.  I’ve got another call on the line.  See you later.”  With that the Chief hung up.  The group was about to send Sportacus via Teleporter over to the station when the phone rang.

          “Yello.”  Pixel answered.

          “I just got a call from FunTown PD.  Josam’s body never made it to the coroner’s office in FunTown.”  The Chief told him.


	16. Chapter 16

“By now our trickery has been discovered but by the time they figure out what we’ve done, it’ll be too late.  Are the men in place?”  Josam asked as they exited the stolen Coroner’s Office Van.

          “If you could call them that, then yes.”  Bobbie replied as he closed the driver’s side door and headed up the stairwell in the old abandoned warehouse.  They’d taken refuge inside FunTown rather than attempting to get the van to LazyTown.  Being caught was not part of the plan especially when they had other ideas for the old warehouse.

          “All right.  Here is the command center.  You call the shots from here.  Once the mission is over, you press this button and it gives you five minutes to grab your gear and get out.  After five minutes, I pray that no one is within a block radius.”  Danny explained.

          “You mean no one important.”  Josam smirked.

          “If you won’t be needing us, we’ll head back to temporary headquarters.  We can’t be caught or we’ll end up in some laboratory getting experimented on.”  Bobbie told him.

          “Quite right.  You’ve done wonderful work.  Thanks for bringing me back from the dead.”  The head of The Ministry nodded.

          “No problem.”  With that both Bobbie and Danny left the room at the top of the staircase and snuck out of the building.  They may have lost the battle but Josam would win the war for them.

          Back in LazyTown, Sportacus had picked up the newsletters and Robbie was scanning them into the computer.  Stephanie paced back and forth hoping they would find evidence to clear her.  Pixel still continued to clean up the license plate number and was writing a program to catch key words in the newly scanned newsletters. 

          “So there’s a good chance that Josam is alive.”  Sportacus said.

          “I’m willing to bet my next disability check on it.”  Robbie told him.

          “How many more of those do we have?”  The above average hero wondered.

          “Luckily there are only twelve a year.  Unfortunately I have ten years backed up and I’m only on year three.”  The ex-con explained.

          “Anyway we can speed this up?”  Sportacus asked hoping there was an answer coming he’d like.

          “Use Poodle’s hand scanner and I’ll keep using the fax/copier/scanner/printer maboober.”  His friend said.  Sportacus nodded and got to work.

          “We have to assume that Josam’s cronies broke him out for a specific reason.  Everything that has happened so far must have happened for a reason.”  Stephanie spoke up as she stopped pacing.

          “Event one was your Uncle getting held hostage.  Event two was Stingy and Trixie getting shot.  Event three was Josam escaping from the secure wing in the hospital by playing dead.  How do you suppose they all tie together?”  Pixel asked without moving his vision from the computer screen.

          “Josam said he had no intention of getting out of Council Meeting room.  He made it sound like he came here to kill Uncle Milford and anyone else that happened to be there.  He called Sportacus and myself into there because he wanted us dead too.”  Stephanie said.

          “Yes and then Robbie foiled him and shot him which is how he ended up in the hospital.”  The Gizmo Guy nodded thoughtfully as he finished his last few sequences of code.

          “So Trixie and Stingy are shot to make the hospital busy and to distract us from something.  We were either heading to the hospital, talking with the Chief, or running information on the computers.”  The pink one started to see what was developing.

          “You think Josam and his buddies have bigger plans for LazyTown?”  Pixel wondered.

          “I don’t think.  I know.”  Stephanie told him.


	17. Chapter 17

Josam smirked to himself as he punched in the codes that would give him complete control over the army that lie dormant in LazyTown.  Once the sequence was in, he pushed a large red button.

          “All soldiers activated.  Replacement Interactive Constructs one through five hundred, awaiting your commands.”  The computer program showed on the large widescreen computer monitor.

          “Excellent.”  The leader of the Ministry gave an evil smile as he punched in the sequence in which his android army would begin their assault.

          “Assault initiated.  Awaiting command.”  The computer replied.  Josam watched as the piggyback connection into Pixel’s security camera system to give him a view of the entire town.

          “Go to work my pretties.”  He chuckled as he watched the RIAC’s, dressed in SWAT uniforms take the predetermined targets.

          “We’ve been breached!”  Pixel shouted, alerting everyone in the room that something was amiss.

          “What are you talking about?”  Sportacus looked confused as Robbie dove over to the second keyboard and furiously began punching keys.

          “Someone is using the security camera feed and locked me out of the system.  The cameras are rotating on their own and…” Pixel trailed off as a bright red warning came up on the screen.

          “We’ve been infected!  The rat bastard sent me a virus.”  The Gizmo Guy was angry.  The two computer wizards were so focused on trying to get back in and remove the virus they didn’t see what was happening on the screens.  Stephanie and Sportacus did however.  They quickly headed toward the door of Pixel’s bedroom and were met by RIAC’s.

          “You are under arrest.”  The android in front told them.

          “Over my dead body.”  Sportacus said as he flung his mighty right fist into the jaw of the android.  He screamed out in pain, his fingers and knuckles broken.

          “Androids!”  Stephanie screamed out before looking around the room for some sort of weapon.  She found what she was looking for, a baseball bat.  As two of the RIAC’s pushed Sportacus to the floor and subdued him, the remaining six charged after Stephanie, Robbie, and Pixel.  The Gizmo Guy pressed a button on his wristband and then punched with all his might.  His punch made a dent to which no one expected.  The RIAC he’d hit stumbled backwards but did not fall.  Then it pulled out a gun out of its leg and pointed it at Pixel.  He quickly raised his hands and was subdued similarly to Sportacus.  His hands cuffed behind his back and his ankles shackled together.

          Robbie swung at the android with his cane but it did little good.  The RIAC he was fighting grabbed it, crushed it, and then knocked the ex-villain unconscious.  Once he was handcuffed that left Stephanie to fight for herself.

          “One versus eight doesn’t seem fair.”  She commented, holding the baseball bat at the ready.

          “Resistance is futile, puny human.”  The leader of the RIAC’s told her.  Stephanie laughed and took a swing with the bat at the nearest android.  She caught him in the chin and knocked him down before bringing the bat around to the next one and smashing him in side of the head.  However she wasn’t quick enough and the third android punched her in the gut.  The force of the impact knocked the wind out of her and she flew up against the far wall.

          “Subdue her!”  The command given, the capable androids quickly approached the slumped over girl and cuffed her hands before bringing her to their leader.  What no one realized was that the impact with the android’s fist had caused massive internal bleeding and that the impact with the wall had broken some ribs.

          “Stand her up!”  The leader ordered as Stephanie struggled to clear her head from the pain.  The android pulled out his nine-millimeter weapon and pointed it at her forehead.

          “She dies first.”  He smirked.


	18. Chapter 18

Stephanie waited for the end to come.  She knew that despite her special healing abilities a shot between the eyes would be fatal.  With her friends unable to help and her head beginning to cloud with pain, the pink one had almost given up.  Almost.

          The leader of the android didn’t even see it coming but suddenly he was on the ground with a fist-sized hole in the side of his head.  Pixel grabbed the nine-millimeter gun that had fallen to the ground.

          “Let her go.”  He said, pointing the gun at the nearest RIAC.

          “Or what?”  Asked one of the other androids.  Pixel squeezed the trigger and the robot he had pointed the weapon at collapsed to ground with a hole in head.

          “Any more questions?”  He wanted to know.  The robots quickly did as they had been told but everyone in the room knew they were still outnumbered especially considering that three out of the four were injured.

          “Give me the keys.” Pixel ordered.  He was given the keys without any trouble.

          “How’d you do that?”  Stephanie asked as she came over to him holding her ribs. 

          “More on that later.  Can you uncuff Sportacus and Robbie?”  The Gizmo Guy wondered as he handed her the keys.

          “I can try.”  She nodded slowly and headed to her friends.  Robbie was still out cold and Sportacus’ hand was all bloody.

          “Get Robbie.”  He said.  She moved to the unconscious ex-villain and quickly undid the handcuffs.

          “All right here we go.”  Stephanie moved to her beloved and undid his cuffs.  He smiled slightly before taking his undamaged hand and placing it underneath his curled up broken ones.  He inhaled and exhaled before snapping them back into place.  The above average hero stifled a scream that attempted to escape from his lips.  Stephanie winced in her own understanding of the pain.  Sportacus then scooped up Robbie and put him over his shoulder.

          “Pixel won’t you be a friend and have them clear a path to the door?”  The above average hero wondered.  The Gizmo Guy pointed the handgun to the first android in the way and it moved out of the way.

          “Stephanie after you.”  Sportacus motioned with his head.  She nodded and quickly did as she was told.  Pixel waited for the hero and ex-con leave the room before backing toward the door.  He knew that if he didn’t do something, they wouldn’t actually make it out of the house.

          “Well boys this has been fun but we really must go.  Give my regards to your friends when you see them in robot heaven.”  He smirked and pressed some buttons on his wristband before slamming the door closed.  The androids made a move for the door but never made it there.  The floor became electrified and the robots seemingly danced about for a few moments before flopping on the ground like fish out of water.

          “What did you just do?  My feet are all tingly.”  Stephanie said.

          “Grammie Gizmo always said to have a few thousand volts at the ready.”  He winked as they escaped the home and headed toward Robbie’s place.

          “For what?”  Sportacus asked.

          “To cover ones ass or destroy androids, whatever happens first.”  Pixel explained simply.

          “Explains the hand held device and the nice punch to the head.”  The above average hero nodded thoughtfully.

          “It may have fried all my equipment but Robbie’s system has all my backups.”  The Gizmo Guy shrugged as if frying all that his equipment meant very little.

          “Well then let’s get to work on figuring out what is going on.”  Sportacus smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

Robbie was rudely awoken with a splash of water to the face.  He opened his eyes but his head spun and he closed them again.

          “You going to make it Robbie?”  Stephanie asked in a soft voice.

          “I’ll be fine once the world stops spinning.  I’m pretty sure I have a concussion.”  The purple wearing man said attempting to reach her tone level.

          “We’ll try to keep the noise down then.  Where are your extra canes?  Your other one is bent like an Irish shillelagh.  That and we left it behind.”  She said remembering she hadn’t seen it since the tussle at Pixel’s house had begun.

          “They are down the hall; first door on the left, inside the closet.  Can’t miss them.”  He told her squeezing his eyes closed a little tighter until his eyelids were all wrinkly.  Robbie felt a metal bowl being placed on his chest and immediately knew it was in case he felt the need to toss his cookies. 

Over by the computer bay, Sportacus and Pixel were watching the video screens as they played back what had occurred from the initial intrusion into the cameras’ software.

“This is not good.”  Pixel shook his head.  Androids now controlled Town Hall and the Police Headquarters.  They had also commandeered any and all emergency vehicles while leaving the fire fighters, ambulance drivers and paramedics, and police tied up at the main firehouse. 

“They are effectively running the town.  They wanted us out of the way and its only a matter of time before they start executing innocent people.”  Sportacus heaved a sigh. 

“Well I’ve electrified the any and all entrances and exits in this place.  Those androids aren’t getting in.”  The Gizmo Guy said.

“Then how do we get out?  We have to save the town.  My Uncle will be one of the first people to do executed.”  Stephanie’s nervousness was only slightly noticeable.  Sportacus put his undamaged hand on her shoulder.  She gave a slight smile and then took his damaged one in her hands to assess what needed to be done.

“I’m going to have to wrap these tight so they don’t start healing that way.”  She told him.

“I put them back into place so just bandage them to a flat piece of something.  Within an hour, I’ll be able to use them again.”  The above average hero reassured her.

“Will you be ok to fight before then?  I seriously doubt we have that long.”  Pixel wanted to know.

“I can still fight but we’re going to need something bigger and better to defeat those mechanical monstrosities.”  Sportacus told him.

“Never fear.  Robbie and I have been working on that.”  The Gizmo Guy smirked.

“When?”  Stephanie asked as she used a piece of plywood to straighten out her beloved’s fingers.  Both men had been busy between the security cameras and rebuilding the IAC they had used to infiltrate The Ministry’s headquarters.

“While we were taking apart IAC we discovered his weaknesses.  My guess is since we destroyed The Ministry’s major storage facility that they haven’t had time to create a new version.  The ones we dealt with proved it when I was able to punch the one in the head.  A sufficient electrical force will disable them permanently.  I’d prefer to blast them to bits but Robbie is in no shape to whip up his special brand of explosive.”  Pixel explained before punching a few keys on the keyboard.  Mechanical whirring and clicking began and Robbie grabbed his ears before realizing that would do him no good.  He grabbed the bowl Stephanie had given him and he ralphed.

“Behold the Electrical Suit two thousand or ES-2 as I call it.  We’ve made a model in everyone’s correct size.”  Pixel smiled as he walked over to the wall panel that had opened up behind the Teleporter pads.

“They’re color-coded so we know which one is which.  Let’s suit up.”  The Gizmo Guy said as he led the way to their new weapons.


	20. Chapter 20

“I’m disappointed that they let them escape but never fear I have everything under control.”  Josam explained over the radio to his fellow Ministry board members who where watching the entire incident via satellite feed from the RIACs.

          “We hope so.  You went off the reservation with this last stunt and we could lose what little we have left should you fail.”  Senior member Chiment scolded.

          “Don’t worry your pretty little head.”  Josam scowled.

          “Worry we must.  Finish the job and be out of there within the next two hours or we’ll call the police ourselves.”  Senior member Larry warned him.  With that the communication was severed and Josam was left alone with his thoughts. 

          “We have to move up the timetable boys.”  He called in over the radio to the RIACs.

          “Commence the operation immediately.”  Then Josam watched as the androids when for the important targets first, including the Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Mayor.

          “You have been deemed as a potential threat and will be neutralized.”  An RIAC grabbed Milford by the throat after receiving his instructions.

          “Neutralized?”  The Mayor coughed out, not believing this was happening at his Town Hall.  The RIAC only smirked and began to squeeze Milford’s throat.  He began to choke the leading town official.  Milford struggled for air while Bessie screamed at the androids to release him.  One of the RIACs took the butt of his gun and smashed it against her temple rendering her unconscious.

          “That wasn’t very nice.”  The voice from the other side of the room made the androids look toward the doorway.  Stephanie stood there in her pink ES-2.

          “Get her!”  The leader ordered as he squeezed the Mayor’s neck tighter.  Milford blacked out and saw or heard nothing more.  Stephanie made a dash for the android killing her Uncle and was met by a sea of RIACs. 

          “I hope your suit works, Pixel.”  She muttered as she landing a punch on the first android she could reach.  They were stunned when he went flying backwards knocking the leader and Milford to the ground.  Within an instant, the remaining ten RIACs drew their weapons and pointed them at the pink one. 

          “You guys are so cute.”  Stephanie smirked as she pressed a right side panel on her suit, which revealed a loaded shotgun.  From the left side of the suit she pulled a belt of C4-like explosive.  The cool feature of the explosive was that whatever it touched upon being removed from the belt it would stick to and cause a mini-explosion.  Quickly, Stephanie began using her weapons to the best of her abilities.

          The closest RIAC was blasted with her shotgun.  The next took a hit from the sticky explosive.  Androids began firing their weapons and bullets whizzed through the air.  Not wanting to get anyone killed in the crossfire, Stephanie drew the RIACs away toward the large meeting room down the hall.  Several bullets struck her suit and ricocheted off harmlessly into the walls but inside her suit alarms screamed at her.

          “Suit armor down to fifty percent!”  Stephanie continued to blast the androids dropping three more of them until only three remained.  She tossed her shotgun aside and grabbed the belt.  It only contained two explosives left.  Either she had to take them all out with two shots or she would be defenseless against the remaining android. 

          “Direct all power to the suit exterior.”  Stephanie ordered before launching herself at the charging RIACs.  Grabbing one of the explosives, she threw it at a nearby wall.  The resulting explosion blew the wall to bits and it fell onto two of the androids, crushing them.  She turned to the last one coming at her and was about to release the last explosive when a well-aimed bullet struck her helmet.  It knocked her back and the explosive flew from her hands and landed only a few feet away.  There wasn’t enough time to get out of the way before it blew a hole in the floor and sent shrapnel into her suit.  Stephanie screamed as her legs felt like they were on fire.  In an instant, the undamaged android leaped on top of her and began to dent her suit with his fists.

          “Suit armor down to twenty percent.”  It warned her as she tried to protect herself from the blows.

          “Fifteen percent.”

          “Ten percent.”  Stephanie punched the android and it flew back.  She then tried to get up, her legs not wanting to obey her.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw the android picking up a piece of the exploded wall and heading toward her.  With a mighty heave, he flung the concrete piece at her and it landed squarely on her midsection.

          “Sssssssuuuuuuiiiiiittttt arrrrrrrrrrmmmmooorrrrr dddddoooowwwnnnn tttttooooo zzzzeeerrrroooo.”  The last thing Stephanie remembered before the suits oxygen system failed was the RIAC standing over her with a gun.


	21. Chapter 21

Sportacus had successfully rescued Chief Dooright and quickly lead the police to aid Pixel.  Within short order the androids had been destroyed but not without a few causalities on the LazyTown side.  Luckily with the paramedics already there, they were treated immediately.

          “All available officers, I need you in SWAT gear and to follow Pixel as he helps to clean up the rest of the town.”  Dooright ordered in a hoarse whisper as a paramedic checked his throat.

          “Please sir, you almost had your larynx crushed.  You need to not speak.”  The paramedic tried to put up with his cranky patient as best he could but the above average hero interrupted them.

          “I’m going to find Stephanie.  She went to save her uncle.”  Sportacus explained.

          “Take a couple officers with you.”  Dooright rasped.

          “Sirs!”  The paramedic gave them both a look before the blue elf nodded to the Chief and took off.

          The hole in the wall made Sportacus uneasy.  Officer O’Keefe came up alongside the hero and said,

          “It’s too quiet around here.”

          “You’re right.  I don’t like it.  You take your men around the back.  I’ll go in through the front.”  The above average hero told him.  O’Keefe nodded and motioned for the three officers behind him to head around back.

          “Good luck.”  The police officer said to Sportacus before disappearing after his men.  The mechanical suited hero watched him go and then entered through the bullet-ridden front doors. 

          Immediately he was hit with the smell of smoke.  The sprinkler system had kicked in thanks to the flames that had shot out of the now doused androids.  Although that seemed odd to Sportacus as the flames would not have gotten high enough to break the small glass bulbs that rested inside the sprinkler heads.  His answer came when he rounded the corner following the now apparent trail of android parts.  The explosion that had caused the wall to collapse inside the building had crushed two androids, which had then exploded.  Once the closest sprinkler went off they had all gone off. 

          Once past the debris from the explosion, he saw a large chunk of wall lying on the ground.  Knowing it didn’t get there by itself, he immediately scanned the surrounding area.  He did not see anything and continued to the piece of wall.  There underneath it lay Stephanie.  Her helmet had been removed and discarded.  The above average hero quickly dropped to his knees by her side and had his suit check for life readings.

          “Life reading only five percent.  Wounds consist of two broken legs due to shrapnel, broken ribs, internal bleeding, multiple internal organs on the brink of failure, and a gunshot to the upper torso.”  The machine’s reading almost made Sportacus throw up.  Her only saving grace was the fact that she would heal faster than a normal human being.  Right now her body was trying to piece itself back together.

          “Oh my dear Stephanie.”  Sportacus touched her face with his gloved hand before moving to extricate her from her prison of concrete wall.

          “Warning!  Warning!  Warning!”  His suit warned him of danger as his crystal had been effectively integrated into the mechanical outfit.  Swirling around he was face to face with the remaining android.  He had used Stephanie as bait, knowing that someone would come for her.

          “Coming to the aid of a loved one.  That is why you humans are so weak.”  The android smirked as he stood only a few feet away from Sportacus, his weapon leveled at the hero’s chest.  Sportacus clenched his fists.  He knew the suit would be able to take a few bullets but it wasn’t at one hundred percent anymore.  One would eventually puncture his suit and then his skin.

          “Say hello to the Mayor for me.”  The RIAC told him as he fired off three rounds in quick succession.  Sportacus took a chance to use his speed in the hopes of dodging the bullets by leaping to the right.  The suit was able to deflect the first two but the third one went into the suit penetrating it and the hero in the stomach.  There was a loud report of a weapon as he collapsed to the ground.


	22. Chapter 22

Josam watched as one by one his androids went offline.  He had no way of knowing how many casualties were on the LazyTown side and his time was running short.  In the distance, sirens wailed.  They could be heading to LazyTown or they could be heading his way.  Either way staying in the warehouse did little for him.  His time was up.  Quickly he grabbed everything he needed and pressed the self-destruct button.  The five-minute countdown initiated, Josam quickly exited the building and made his way toward LazyTown.  Even if the androids had failed if he could prove that the team who had destroyed their headquarters was dead, then his job would be complete.

          In LazyTown, Sportacus looked up to find Officer O’Keefe and his team by his side.  He smiled, knowing that the loud blast had come from one of their shotguns and that the remaining android was dead.

          “We’ve got rescue vehicles on the way but we can’t remove that heavy piece of concrete off Stephanie.”  O’Keefe explained.

          “You go find the Mayor and everyone who was in the building.  I’ll take care of Stephanie.”  Sportacus told him.

          “You’re bleeding.  You should be resting until the ambulance arrives.”  The officer argued.

          “Just go.  The android believed the Mayor to be dead.  I need you to find him.”  The above average hero ordered.  O’Keefe nodded and quickly went with his men back down the hall toward the Mayor’s office.  Sportacus slowly got onto his hands and knees and then crawled to the nearby wall to help himself up.  Once on his feet, the world spun a little.  He mentally cursed his body and then stumbled back to Stephanie.

          “Stephanie?”  He hoped she would respond but she didn’t.  As fast as he could, he steadied himself behind the hunk of wall and pulled.  It moved a few inches and the above average hero was afraid he was going to drop it.  Attempting for a better grip, he heaved once his hands latched onto some rebar.  Once again the world was beginning to spin but the blue elf heaved one final time and the piece of concrete wall tumbled off of Stephanie.  The hero collapsed next to her and soon heard footsteps charging down the hall.

          “Sportacus!”  The hero did not recognize the voice but he recognized the patch on the shirt of the man who was kneeling next to him; it was an EMT.

          “Help Stephanie first.”  He ordered.

          “We’ve already got a team helping her.  We’re here to help you.”  The rescue worker smiled.

          “Have they found the Mayor?”  Sportacus wanted to know.

          “I’m not sure.  Now let me help you out of the suit so I can get a look at what we’re dealing with.”  The paramedic removed the helmet and undid the front zipper of the suit.  Noticing the wound to the hero’s stomach, the medical worker quickly went looking for an exit wound.  Upon finding none, he called for a stretcher and with some assistance lifted the hero onto it.  The loss of blood was beginning to cause Sportacus to fade in an out of consciousness and the EMTs knew they’d better get moving.  In short order they had both Stephanie and Sportacus loaded onto waiting ambulances and they were off racing to the FunTown Hospital.

          Josam watched from his seat in the cab, he’d just picked up as the ambulances went by.  Unable to tell who was in them, he said nothing to the cabbie about turning around.  Instead they continued on into LazyTown where he was dropped off not far from the Mayor’s home.  After paying the man, Josam found a house that appeared empty and went around back.  He stuck his head and right arm thru the dog door and unlatched the lock.  Wherever the dog was, it certainly wasn’t barking and he was glad for the quiet.  Next he slid into the house for a quick shower and borrowed some of the resident’s clothes.  He retreated to the living room where he quickly turned on the news.

          “We are being told that LazyTown is back under the control of humans after an android attack.  Both Police Chief Dooright and Fire Chief McGinty have been rushed to FunTown along with our heroes Stephanie and Sportacus.  There is no word on the Mayor’s whereabouts and currently the Town Council is overseeing the cleanup.  Back to you Steve.”  The reporter finished delivering the news and Josam turned off the television silently cursing his decision to head back to LazyTown.  He grabbed his bag he’d saved from the warehouse and went upstairs.  There he could see the smoke from the building he’d exploded from a window in the bathroom.  More sirens wailed and he knew that crews would be on the scene to cleanup but they would not find anything of use.  Quickly, he donned a disguise before leaving the house he broke into and hailing another taxi.


	23. Chapter 23

The ambulances arrived at the hospital and Susan happened to be one of the nurses that responded to their arrival.  She was in shock upon seeing Sportacus and Stephanie’s injuries.  Quickly both were rushed to the surgery wing and prepped.  Another ambulance pulled up and Susan quickly turned to the door.  This one hadn’t had its sirens on and she hoped that whoever was in there was still amongst the living.

          “Robbie?!”

          “How are the Pink One and Sportakook?”  He asked forgoing her reaction as the gurney was wheeled to a nearby elevator.

          “They were just wheeled into surgery.  What happened to you?”  She asked as she climbed into the already packed lift, noticing that as he spoke he kept wincing and squinting.

          “A little head trauma.  Poodle thought I needed a CAT scan.”  Robbie replied.  The elevator dinged as it reached the floor it needed to stop at and quickly the medical team whisked the hurting villain down the hall.

          “I’ll be back.”  Susan promised him and then she ran to find the shift supervisor. 

          “All right Mr. Rotten we’re going to see what’s in that head of yours.  Anything we need to know before we begin?”  The doctor asked as they wheeled him into the room next to the large CAT scan machine.

          “I have metal brackets in my spine around my lower back.”  The ex-con said.

          “Good to know.”  The doctor then quickly went about figuring out how to get a look at Robbie’s brain.

          Meanwhile, Josam arrived at the hospital and claimed he was visiting Trixie.  The nurse at the sign in desk thought nothing of it and let him head to the elevators.  However he didn’t go the floor her room was on.  Instead he got off on another floor and quickly ducked into a janitor’s closet.  He didn’t have to wait long until someone entered the room looking for something.  Quickly, the villain conked them on the head using a broomstick.  Then he stripped the man down to his underwear and used some zip ties to tie the maintenance man to the shelving units.  After donning his new costume, Josam went out into the hall and grabbed the cart and pushed it around to the elevators.

          He then exited the elevators on the floor holding Trixie.  However he was shocked to find a security guard outside her door.  It was going to be harder to get into her room than he thought but it only took a moment for him to think up something.  Smirking as he approached the guard he said,

          “I have to get her garbage.”

          “She’s got visitors come back later.”  The guard told him.

          “Will do.”  Josam smiled and slowly pushed the cart until he was just far enough away to point the barrel of his silenced weapon without the security cameras picking up what had happened. 

          “Open the door.”  He ordered the guard did as he was told.  The door closed behind them.

          “What’s going on?”  Trixie asked looking at the frightened guard and then at the man next to him.

          “Coming to finish the job.  It’s a shame I’ll have to kill two more people but it will be worth it.”  Josam pushed the guard to the other side of the room and Trixie gave him a look.

          “You bastard.  You’re the one that shot Stingy.”

          “Sadly no.  That was one of my accomplices.  Still you have to admit their handiwork did a pretty good job.”  The leader of The Ministry pointed the barrel of the weapon at the guard and squeezed the trigger.  The bullet struck the unlucky fellow in the chest.  He fell to the ground and then Josam aimed his focus on Trixie’s mother.

          “Should I kill you in front of your daughter or should I kill her in front of you?”  He asked.  The woman trembled and gave no answer.

          “Ah then you get to watch her die.  It won’t be fun.”  Josam aimed for Trixie’s femoral artery and was about to squeeze the trigger when the room door swung open and bashed the villain in the back of the head.

          “Trixie!  Hey who’s this guy?”  Ziggy asked as he looked at the unconscious villain on the floor.


	24. Chapter 24

Sportacus slowly opened his eyes to find Ziggy staring back at him only inches from his face.  The hero jerked his head backwards only to find that the bed was there and there was nowhere to go.

          “Sportacus!  You’re alive!”  The eager young member of the team smiled.

          “Glad to be here.  You’re back from summer camp already?”  The hero smiled back, thankful that Ziggy had backed up before shouting.

          “I’m afraid camp wasn’t going so well once parents started to come pick their kids up.  Seems fear was running rampant in LazyTown.  We closed early for the year.  My boss says we still get paid because it was an unexpected event.”  The camp counselor explained.

          “That was nice of him.  Have you seen Trixie yet?”  Sportacus wondered as he tried to adjust himself in the bed for a more comfortable sitting position.  However he found it to be difficult as the large bandage that was across his stomach wasn’t very flexible.  Ziggy only smiled as his question and disappeared out of the room.  When he returned a moment later, he was wheeling Trixie in a wheelchair followed by her mother who was wheeling in Stingy.  Behind them was Susan who helped Robbie into a nearby chair.

          “Trixie!  Stingy!  Robbie!  It is good to see you!”  Sportacus beamed.  No one in LazyTown had heard news about the miser and all had feared the worst, so now that the young man was in a wheelchair sitting near him the hero was glad.

          “I’m still here.”  Stingy smirked slightly.  He barely moved and it was obvious he was still in a lot of pain.

          “How are you feeling?”  The hero asked.

          “The doctors are going to keep me here for another week or so.  They want to keep an eye on my ease of breathing and my new knee.  I’ll be shipped to a rehab place in LazyTown after that.  I’m going to have to learn how to use it.”  Stingy explained as he lifted up the hospital gown he was wearing to show off his new hardware.

          “Underneath these nice ugly stitches are my new plastic knee cap, a metal end on my femur, some sort of plastic spacer, and a metal connecty device on my tibia.”  He said.

          “Sounds like fun.  We’ll have to visit you every day while you’re there, make sure you aren’t causing trouble.”  Sportacus winked at the young man.

          “As for trouble, I’d be more concerned with what happened in my hospital room.”  Trixie spoke up and explained Ziggy’s inadvertent save.

          “Do the police have him in custody?”  Sportacus asked; his face filled with concern.

          “Yes.  He’s been arraigned on at least fifty counts of attempted murder and two counts of murder.”  Trixie told him.

          “Two counts of murder?  Other than the guard, who is dead?”  The normally blue suited hero wanted to know.  At this Trixie started to cry.  She couldn’t hold it in anymore and Stingy reached over and took her hand.

          “Who is dead?”  The hero almost demanded, now fearing that Stephanie was the victim her best friend wept over.

          “It goes like this Sportacus,” Robbie heaved a great sigh.  The blue elf turned to Robbie hoping his face would give him some comfort.

          “They did everything they could but there wasn’t anything that they could do.  They called it while you were in surgery.”  The ex-con continued.  Sportacus went to open his mouth again, ready to slap the purple wearing man silly when Robbie just blurted it out,

          “Milford is gone.” 


	25. Chapter 25

Sportacus sat there in shock.  His mind refused to accept the fact that the Mayor was dead.

          “But how is that possible?”  He asked.

          “Given his age and the damage done to his trachea, they were never able to get him breathing again.  By the time they found him, his brain had been oxygen deprived for far too long.  Even if by some miracle he’d survived, he would have been in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.”  Susan explained.

          “No one in Town Hall was able to help him before the paramedics arrived?”  The hero couldn’t believe that out of the group no one knew First Aid or CPR.

          “No one had enough medical knowledge or equipment to do so.  They would have had to have a large syringe and stabbed it into his lungs.  A tracheotomy would not have worked in Milford’s case as it was too damaged.  Had they missed the lungs, they could have punctured his heart or any number of organs.  Not to mention that they’d have to miss the ribs too.  There was also internal bleeding they would have had to contend with.”  The nurse pointed out the medical minefield and the horrible reality sunk in. 

          “Did someone tell Stephanie?”  Sportacus wanted to know. 

          “Not yet.  She’s still in surgery.  Bessie is our next stop.”  Robbie spoke up.

          “Go tell her.  I’ll try to figure out a way to tell Stephanie.”  The hospital gown-wearing hero heaved a sigh.  Robbie and Susan only nodded and quickly as they could, left the room.

          “We’d better be on our way as well.”  Trixie’s mom ushered everyone out into the hallway leaving Sportacus alone with his thoughts.

          Hours later, Susan entered the room again, this time alone.  She saw the hero staring up at the ceiling and knew that he still hadn’t figured a way to explain the news to the Mayor’s beloved niece.

          “Stephanie is out of surgery.”  The nurse spoke up.

          “How is she?”  He asked looking down from the ceiling and over to her.

          “Well the doctors were able to remove the bullet and the shrapnel.  Both legs are in casts, her ribs have been wrapped, and she’s going to have a large scar on her torso but other than that it seems her healing abilities are working just fine.”  Susan said with a slight smile.

          “She wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for those abilities.  What Pixel’s suit told me…” the words rang in his ears but he ignored them, now knowing she would pull through.

          “I spoke with the anesthesiologist and she should be coming around soon.  I’ve been authorized to give you a ride.”  Her smile grew as she whipped out a wheelchair from the nearby closet.

          “Thanks.”  Sportacus only smiled slightly, still wondering how Stephanie would take the death of her beloved Uncle.  Another nurse entered the room and helped Susan get him into the wheelchair.  From there, the nurses escorted him down the hallway to where Stephanie’s room was.  Susan parked the wheelchair next to the bed and then quickly ducked from the room.  She went in search of Robbie knowing, despite his concussion, he’d be looking for something sweet at the moment.  She found him near the vending machine in the cafeteria and she quickly sat him down.

          “Pixel called before I visited Sportacus.  He said currently that Chief Dooright is running things in town and that they’ve managed to keep the Mayor’s death under wraps for now.  He fears that their silence won’t last much longer.  Dooright is holding a press conference in a half an hour.”  Susan explained.

          “Let’s hope that Sportacus tells Stephanie what happened before that comes on.”  The ex-con shook his head slightly before he regretted the move and pressed his fingers to his forehead.


	26. Chapter 26

It would be a few days later before the town came out to bury the man that had united them all.  Milford’s funeral would be one that every man dreams of having.  Thousands lined the street as the funeral procession came by. 

          Leading the procession was the ragtag bunch that was LazyTown’s heroes, most of whom still had to be pushed around in wheelchairs.  They all blamed themselves for being unable to protect the Mayor but none more so than Stephanie.  She was too late to save him and now the last of her family was gone.

          Behind them was the entire police force followed by the firefighters all in their dress blues.  Directly behind the firefighters was the hearse carrying the Mayor’s coffin that was draped in the flag.  People threw flowers at the vehicle as it passed at a slow five miles an hour.  Strains of “Amazing Grace” floated through the air as the police bagpiping corps played their best following after the hearse. 

          It was a long walk to the cemetery outside LazyTown but no one said anything.  The throngs of people died away as they exited the town and the police honor guard came into view.  They stood stock still their rifles at the ready for the twenty-one-gun salute.  Nearby at the request of Miss Busybody was the priest from the local church ready to read the religious aspect of the ceremony.  Milford had never been a religious man.  He believed in a higher power but never anything more.  In fact he had often joked that when the time came the decision for his eternal resting place wasn’t up to him anyway, as he’d never bought a funeral plot, considering it bad luck.  Despite his seemingly goofy behavior at times, the Mayor was a strong willed man who believed that the only way to live his life was to serve the people in his community.  To him, that was enough for any God to see.

The weather had cooperated so far keeping the temperature bearable and the winds light.  Dark clouds loomed on the horizon and all hoped that they would not get wet during the funeral.  The rain the day before had made the ground soft and the wheelchairs were difficult to push over the ground but everyone was able to reach the freshly dug grave.

          Pallbearers included Sportacus, Robbie (who was aided by Ziggy despite the ex-con’s protest), Chief Dooright, Fire Chief McGinty, Officer O’Keefe, and Sergeant Myers of Ladder Number five.  They removed the casket and placed it on the stand above the hole that would be Milford’s final resting place.  It took a lot out of the still recovering above average hero but he remained strong for Stephanie’s sake.

          The pink one paid little attention to the comforting words given by the priest and kept her eyes focused on the coffin in front of her.  She never got to say good-bye and that angered her.  Too many of her loved ones had been taken from her without the opportunity for good-byes.

          “Stephanie if you would.”  Her name being spoken snapped her out of it and she cleared her throat.  Giving a nod, she mustered the strength she could and spoke.

          “My Uncle was a good man.  He always tried to do what was best for LazyTown and for me.  I know everyone will remember him fondly and I wish I had more to say.  Rest in Peace, Uncle Milford, I loved you very much.  I know Mom and Dad are with you now and I’m glad you are not alone.”  Her breath hitched as she spoke the last sentence and Sportacus grabbed her hand.  Being unable to hold in her emotions any longer, Stephanie began to cry.  However the Chief ordering his men to present their weapons and fire drowned her crying out.

          “Fire!”

          BANG!

          “Fire!”

          BANG!

          “Fire!”

          BANG!

          The flag was removed from the coffin-top and folded before a solitary trumpeter played “Taps” as the casket was lowered into the ground.  The group began to disperse and Chief McGinty approached Stephanie with the flag in hand.

          “Your Uncle never told you about his service as a firefighter.  If at any time you want to find out about it, you let me know.”  He gave her a gentle hug before walking away.  Sportacus gave a slight smile and then began pushing her wheelchair off the grass.


	27. Chapter 27

It was late as he entered FunTown Police Station Number One.  The officer at the front door directed him to the nearest detective and he nodded in thanks.  As soon as he was out of view of the officer he quickly ducked down a nearby hallway that led to holding cells.  The layout was remarkably similar to LazyTown’s Police Headquarters and his clever costume let him blend in as if he was a policeman. 

          Down the dimly lit hallway at the very end sat his objective.  No one was down there as it drew close to midnight save for the lowly guard.  There was a heavy metal door and a policeman sitting in a metal chair behind a desk, as the hallway grew larger into a large open space.

          “You my relief?”  The officer asked.

          “Indeed I am.”  The imposter lied through his teeth as he smiled.

          “You look pretty young.  Fresh out of the academy?”  The officer wondered.

          “My first assignment.”  The imposter nodded glad that suspicion wasn’t thrown his way.

          “Well this would be something easy for you.  Here are the keys to the cells.  You shouldn’t need them until our guests are fed breakfast or escorted to court.  Should there be an emergency you push the alarm button and then enter the cells.  Once the alarm goes off backup will be here within a matter of seconds.  There is a first aid kit in the bottom drawer of the desk and a defibrillator on the wall.  Have fun watching them sleep.”  The policeman pointed out the lousy view on the security cameras.

          “Thanks.”  The imposter smiled again before whipping out his nightstick and knocking the guard unconscious.  Putting him in his chair to look as though he was sleeping, the imposter quickly pulled a pair of gloves on and shut off the cameras that fed the closed circuit TV in the desk.  Thanks to a computer error the next real guard wouldn’t get there for another half an hour, which gave the imposter all the time he needed.   Grabbing the keys, he quickly opened the heavy metal door and walked to the cell that was the third on the left. 

          There asleep in his bed was the target.  The imposter smirked and opened the cell door that led to the only occupied cell.  The creaking awakened the prisoner and he found the officer standing over him. 

          “Get up.”  The imposter ordered.

          “What is going on?”  Josam asked.

          “I said get up!”  The imposter used his nightstick to hit the prisoner in the side of the neck.  The force of the impact knocked the victim unconscious.  Gently pushing the victim onto the floor so as to not leave any additional bruises, he quickly grabbed the bed sheet and pillowcase off the bed and fashioned a noose.  The victim was still unconscious and he dragged Josam as close to the barred window, placing him in the sitting position with his back against the wall.  The imposter took the noose end and put it over Josam’s neck, with it still loose enough to allow the victim to not suffocate.  Pulling a needle out of his pocket, he carefully stuck the tip of the needle underneath Josam’s fingernail.

          The sheer pain that came from this act roused Josam out of his unconsciousness.  He tried to scream but the imposter had shoved the pillowcase into his mouth, careful not to damage the victim’s teeth or leave any marks behind to indicate force.

          “I bet that hurt.”  The imposter smirked referring to the needle jab.  Josam looked him square in the eye and immediately recognized who his attacker was.

          “You’ll be committing suicide for the good of everyone.  This injection was something of your Ministry’s own concoction.  It’ll make you fall asleep and your heartbeat will slow.  They’ll probably never find the injection sight but even if they do you’ll have hung yourself so they won’t have much to go on.  I don’t relish killing you but it seems only fair after what you have done.”  The imposter smirked again and pushed the plunger down on the syringe.  Again Josam tried to struggle but he was losing the battle as his eyes began to close.  Once the imposter was sure that his victim was unconscious, he tied the other end of the bed sheet around the barred window.  The act of tying the bed sheet cinched the noose around Josam’s neck and began cutting off his oxygen supply.  With that, the victim would be dead soon and the imposter made sure to grab everything he had brought.  Closing the cell door with his gloved hands, he walked back down the hallway and exited the heavy metal door.  He turned the cameras back on and wiped down the set of keys to make sure there were no fingerprints left.  Then he walked off down the hallway and quickly exited the building through the front door.  The officer on duty just smiled at him thinking he had finished his business with the detective he had sought.  By the time the real guard showed up, Josam was dead and the guard who was on duty found himself in a world of trouble.


	28. Chapter 28

“Late last evening the man accused of killing Mayor Meanswell of LazyTown was found dead in his cell.  The guard on duty has been suspended without pay until the investigation has finished but right now it looks like a suicide.  We’ll have more on this breaking story as it become available.  Now onto the weather.  What have you got for us Johnny?”  The lead anchor of the local news reported.  Not bothering to listen to the weatherman, Johnny Raincloud, was Sportacus.  He was trying to figure out what to make for breakfast and decided to see if perhaps a walk in the park afterward would do Stephanie some good so he’d turned on the TV.  She was healing rapidly but her broken bones still needed some mending.  Within the next few days the casts would come off but until then the wheelchair was her only mode of transportation.

          Now he stood in the living room trying to figure out how or why Josam would have committed suicide.  Perhaps the Ministry didn’t want any loose ends or maybe just maybe Robbie had something to do with it.  He may have become a good guy but the deep-seated rottenness had never completely gone away.  The above average hero thought about calling the ex-con but before he could the doorbell rang.  In a flash Sportacus was at the door and he opened it.

          “Morning Sportasquirt.”  Robbie gave him a slight smile and wobbled his way into the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane.

          “Robbie are you all right?”  The blue elf asked.

          “Yeah I’ll be fine as soon as the weather makes up it’s mind.  Stinking rain is giving my arthritis heck.”  The purple suited man shook his head before plopping down in a nearby chair.

          “I see.  Well to what do we owe the visit?”  Sportacus wondered as he continued his search for food, starting with the pantry.

          “You see the news this morning?”  Robbie asked.  At that comment, Sportacus stood up and turned around.

          “Yes I did.”  He answered.

          “Well before you go accusing me of doing it, I’ll have you know that I wasn’t anywhere near FunTown.  Although I have a sneaking suspicion of who was.”  The ex-villain replied.

          “Who do you think did it?”  Sportacus wanted to know.

          “I got a call from Poodle before I came over.  He said whoever it was altered the computerized work schedule at the precinct and managed to turn off the security cameras in the cell area.”  Robbie told him.

          “How does he know that?”  The above average hero asked a little concerned where this was headed.

          “The forensic guy working the case called him.  Asked if he could trace the person who hacked into their system.  Honestly a child could do it with their adorable little sixty-four-bit encryption and their pathetic attempt at a firewall.  But anyway, Pixel traced it back to one of the computers at the LazyTown public library.  Whoever it was, was smart.  No way to trace him from there.  Hundreds of fingerprints are all over that computer and all you need is a library card to show the librarian.”  Robbie explained.

          “So they have no leads and nothing solid to go on since it looks like a suicide.”  Sportacus said.

          “Right now they aren’t connecting any dots.  They have no way to prove who hacked the computers and all they have is the guard claiming that someone came to relieve him and the next thing he knew he was getting yelled at by the real guard who showed up late due to the schedule mix up.  Nothing suspicious occurred at the station last night so for now Josam hung himself in his cell.”  The arthritis filled man titled his head to the right and gave a slight shrug.

          “But you said you thought you knew who it was.”  His friend reminded him.

          “I do but you won’t believe me.  Heck I didn’t believe it myself.”  Robbie pulled a DVD out of his pocket and handed it to Sportacus.  The hero went into the living room and stuck it in the player.  Robbie hobbled his way over and as the video played he saw Sportacus shake his head.

          “That is a picture of Ziggy hailing a cab with a duffel bag in his hand at eleven-thirty at night.  He returns to his house not long after twelve thirty.  No one goes out for an hour that late on a Monday, especially not Ziggy.”  The ex-con said.

          “Did you call the cab driver?”  Sportacus wanted to know.

          “I did.  Said he drove Ziggy to an address in FunTown.  I checked and the distance between that place and the police station is only a five-minute walk.  He gave himself plenty of time.  Even used a cab from FunTown on the way back to make it look like a regular transaction.  My guess is they’ll find the uniform he bought in a dumpster somewhere or maybe he burned it.  Either way, I had Pixel destroy the tapes and this copy gets destroyed too.”  Robbie removed the long over DVD from the player and snapped the disk into four neat pieces before using his keys to gouge the pieces.

          “So what do we do?  The guard could ID him.”  The above average hero asked.

          “Oh that I doubt.  According to Pixel the guard described the young man as having dark hair, a moustache, and brown eyes.”  The Master of Disguised smirked.

          “He learned well from all your tricks.”  Sportacus heaved a sigh.

          “That he did.  Tell no one what you have seen.  If we keep this between us, then our problems are over.  Nothing comes out about the bombing of the Ministry headquarters or the fact that the guy who killed our enemy is friends with the Mayor’s soon to be replacement.”  Robbie gave the hero a nod before hobbling back through the kitchen and out the front door.


	29. Chapter 29

“Justice is a funny mistress.  Uncle Milford always said things would work out in the end.  But I’m not here to talk about this morning’s events.  I’m here to talk about my Uncle’s replacement until the next election is to be held next fall.”  Stephanie addressed the crowd and all the viewers at home.

          “As you know, my Uncle never had anyone in line for the job in case something happened to him.  He never thought that far ahead after thinking he’d be out of office after his first term.  Well no one ever challenged him and he sat in the Mayor’s office my entire life and then some.  I’ve been approached by a number of people who claimed I’d be the logical choice to assume the title but I have no desire to sit in an office that will forever remind me of the man I lost.

          “That being said, I can think of only one man who is qualified for the job if he wants it.  He is a man we all know and love.  A man who has been looking out for LazyTown for a long time and will continue to do so in his new post.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sportacus.”  The pink haired girl moved her wheelchair away from the lowered microphone stand and moved to the above average hero’s chair behind her.  She took his hand and he climbed up to the podium with her by his side.

          “I would be honored to be Mayor if the good people of LazyTown would agree.  A vote shall be held tomorrow evening at the high school.  All those who wish to participate; I thank you for your time.”  With that the press conference was over and everyone began to disperse.

          “You think we did the right thing?”  Stephanie asked.

          “We’ll find out soon enough.  No one else has spoken up and I know that Chief Dooright could hold the position should I not be voted for.  I think having the people decide who should be in office is a good idea because it has to be someone who will take charge of this town and protect it.  No one has run against your Uncle for years.  This opportunity will give everyone a chance to get used to elections again.  Visiting the polls had been down the last decade since there was only one person to vote for.”  Sportacus reassured her.  Stephanie nodded thoughtfully.

          “Why don’t we get some dinner?  It is after six o’clock.  We’ve had a busy day.”  The hero smiled.

          “Sounds good to me.  Mind if we go home first and change?  I need to get out of this dress.”  She told him.

          “Do you mean so we can go to dinner or so…” he left the sentence hanging there.

          “You’re a funny boy.  None of that until my casts come off.”  She chuckled.  It was good to see her laugh and smile, as she had not done that in a long while.

          “All right.  A quick change and then over to Robbie’s.  He said he wanted us to come over tonight and promised it would be worth our while.”  He told her.

          “Is he having food because I’m starving.”  She replied.

          “He promised it would be a night to remember.  I’m guessing that includes food.  Worst comes to worst, we can beg sports candy off Susan.”  This time he chuckled.

          “I give her credit for trying but Robbie is never going to eat that stuff.  He’s lucky he doesn’t have a blood sugar disorder.”  Stephanie shook her head and laughed as their walk finally led them to the front door.

          “After you mademoiselle.”  The hero smiled as he opened the front door and Stephanie wheeled herself over the threshold.  Quickly she made her way down the hall to her room.

          “I’ll be there in a minute.  Seems we have a message on the answering machine.”  He called out to her.

          “Ok!”  She shouted.  The hero went over and pressed the button and the message began.

          “Message received Wednesday at five forty-eight pm.  Hello Sportacus this is Mr. Jones down at Jones Fine Jewelry…” the message continued but the hero clamped his hand over the speaker.

          “Who was it?”  Stephanie asked after he entered her room.

          “No one important.”  He told her.


	30. Chapter 30

“Welcome to our humble abode.”  Robbie had a small smile on his face as he opened the side door to his lair.  Susan was there and she helped Sportacus get Stephanie over the raised doorway floor.

          “So what was all the secrecy about?  Why have us over so desperately?”  Stephanie asked.

          “We’re in need of a party and we have two, no, three good reasons for one.”  Robbie told her after he closed the door and hobbled his way over to them.

          “Three good reasons?”  Sportacus raised an eyebrow.

          “Of course.  You’re going to be Mayor, Stephanie will be out of her casts, and Trixie is home from the hospital.”  Susan clarified as the doorbell rang.  Robbie went to answer it.

          “Come on in.”  The ex-con welcomed Trixie and Ziggy.

          “All right so what’s all the hullabaloo?”  The trickster asked as she went over to her best friend and gave her a hug.

          “Well technically then there are four reasons to party.”  Robbie said as he winked at Susan.

          “What did I forget?”  She asked.

          “Only the best news ever.”  He emphasized “ever” and immediately everyone looked at the two of them.

          “We wanted you all to know that Susan has agreed to make an honest man out of me.  That’s right my days of being a bachelor are over.”  Robbie smiled.

          “Congratulations!”  Sportacus gave the ex-villain a slap on the back while Trixie and Stephanie gave hugs to Susan.

          “I thought you said you’d always be a confirmed bachelor.  So what made you do it?”  The above average hero teased.

          “I’m getting too old and creaky,” Robbie chuckled, “In all seriousness, I have no way to explain how I feel when she’s around.  I mean I never realized how lonely I was until she came along.”

          “That’s how it’s supposed to be.”  Sportacus smiled.

          “Oh I have something for you.  Mr. Jones wanted me to pass it along but perhaps after dinner when no one is looking.  Had I but realized what was going on...” Robbie winked at him.  Sportacus only nodded.  Before anyone could ask what the two of them were talking about the doorbell rang for a third time.

          “Food!”  Robbie said excitedly as he headed for the door.

          “Ladies, follow me.” Susan said as they went down the hallway and into the dining room off of the kitchen.

          “Wheel yourself to the table Steph.  We’ll bring out the drinks and such.”  The nurse promised.  The pink one was going to argue that she could help but Trixie didn’t give her much of an option after she pushed her up to the table.

          “Good thing we have three burly men to carry all that food.”  Stephanie chuckled as Sportacus came in carrying three large covered foil pans and Ziggy had two while Robbie was only carrying a bag full of napkins and serving utensils.

          “More like two and a half.”  Sportacus laughed.

          “Hey!  I carried the wallet.”  Robbie stuck out his tongue. 

          “All right.  Pop and, for those that want it, beer.”  Susan and Trixie came out with glasses and bottles.

          “Sounds good to me.  For tonight’s entrée, roast beef or chicken followed by sides of corn and mashed potatoes.  And the final pan is for me, it’s full of brownies.”  Robbie said.  Everyone laughed at that and quickly began passing out the food.


	31. Chapter 31

“The votes have been tallied and the results are in.”  Miss Busybody said over the phone, which Sportacus had picked up in the kitchen.

          “So what do I do next?”  He asked.

          “Well in the morning we’ll announce the results and you’ll have to give a speech.  Can you get down to Town Hall now?”  Bessie wondered.  Sportacus looked at the clock.  Voting had ceased at nine pm and it was now almost eleven.  Despite the fact that he hadn’t gone to bed on time, he wasn’t tired.  There was too much going on to sleep.

          “I don’t see why not.  Let me tell Stephanie and I’ll be down there in five minutes.”  He said before hanging up.

          “Where you off to?”  The pink one asked as he reentered the living room.

          “Bessie needs me at Town Hall.  You going to be ok by yourself?”  The above average hero wondered.

          “I can wheel myself and everything.  I’ll be glad tomorrow afternoon when they come off.”  She smiled.

          “Me too.”  He waggled his eyebrows at her before taking off like a rocket for Town Hall.  Stephanie shook her head and laughed before turning off the TV and heading for her room.

          The next morning the sun shined down on LazyTown, as did almost every morning.  The birds were chirping, the paperboy was delivering the morning papers, and the mailman was making his appointed rounds while everyone sat glued to their TV sets.

          “Good people of LazyTown, the results of the election are in and with the win by a landslide is Sportacus!  He will fill in for the Mayor until next fall.  We appreciate all those who came out to vote and the official results will be posted in this afternoon’s paper.  Now here is our new Mayor.”  Bessie smiled and the camera switched over to Sportacus.  They had decided to make the announcement at Town Hall and he now leaned on what used to be Milford’s desk.  Stephanie sat next to him.  As soon as the broadcast was over they had an appointment at FunTown Hospital.

          “I want to thank everyone for voting and for believing I could do the job.  I am honored to sit in Mayor Meanswell’s chair.  I am not replacing him but filling in for him.  No one will replace Milford and I’m not about to try.

          “We’ll be holding my first Town Meeting in six weeks.  That’s when the construction should be completed according to our very own LazyTown Builders Construction Company.  Stop by to see their progress anytime.

          “Now there is one more thing I must cover before we go off the air.  My life has almost come full circle but I am missing one small piece that would make it complete.  I want all of you to share in this moment because without you, the people of LazyTown, none of this would be possible.”  Sportacus turned to Stephanie before getting down on one knee.  Her eyes went wide and he continued,

          “Stephanie would you make me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife?”  Everyone in the audience at home sat on the edge of their seats waiting for a reply, despite the fact they had a pretty good idea what she’d say.  A smile crossed Stephanie’s face as she responded,

          “Yes!”          


	32. Epilogue

It had been ten years since the death of her uncle and Stephanie now walked the long distance from the home they had once shared to his gravesite.  The sun was out but she hardly felt its warmth due to the stiff breeze that was blowing.  The clouds moving in showed signs of precipitation heading her way and she picked up the pace.

          When she arrived at his headstone, she saw that Bessie had been by not long ago as fresh flowers adorned the vase.  She could tell that his long time secretary had been by because the vase was full of petunias, her uncle’s favorite flora.  Stephanie put the daisies she’d brought down next to the vase.  Daisies had been something that had always reminded him of his sister which had brought the uncle and niece closer together as daisies were Stephanie’s favorite.

          “It’s been ten years.  It feels like only yesterday I was saying goodbye.”  She said.  Heaving a sigh, she looked up at the darkening sky and continued on.

          “Sportacus and I will be celebrating our anniversary soon.  The kids had promised to make us something special, which is adorable considering that they have no idea how special they are to us.  Only so much can be put into words you know?”  Stephanie paused thinking about her two wonderful children, Henry aged nine and Sarah aged seven.

          “I wish you would have had a chance to meet them.  I tell them about you all the time.  I have yet to bring them here since they were very little.  I apologize for that.  I really should bring them but sometimes it’s very hard for me to be here.  There are too many memories.

          “Sportacus is retiring.  He promised he would last election but that didn’t happen so we’ll see with the next one coming up soon.  He says that he wants to spend more time with me and the kids.  Who knew being Mayor would be so complicated?”  She laughed at her own little joke.  There were plenty of nights that she’d gone to bed and her uncle didn’t get in until later.  As she grew older, the job seemed to get easier for him especially when things were going well.  Sportacus hadn’t been away as much as Milford had but she just attributed that to the speed with which he could get things done.  Little raindrops began to pitter-patter on the headstones and the flowers gladly soaked up the rain. 

          “Looks like the weather is intent on cutting our visit short.  I just wanted you to know what’s been going on and how much I’ve missed you.  Bessie has been by so I’m sure you already got most of the gossip.  She always did love to talk to you.  I’ll try to bring the kids next week.  They start school soon so I want them to come before we get settled back into the chaos that is elementary school.  I love you Uncle Milford.”  She kissed her fingertips and then pressed them to the stone with his name carved on it.  The drizzle was beginning to become more steady and she pulled her jacket closer to her as she began to walk out of the cemetery.

          She could have run home.  It wouldn’t have taken her long.  However she preferred to walk as the rain beat down.  It gave her time to think and a hot shower was waiting for her.  The kids were over at Trixie’s hanging out with her best friend’s children, Stingy Junior and Claudia.  Sportacus was at Town Hall where he’d been for the last ten years.  The election process hadn’t really advanced like they’d hoped considering no one would run against him.

          The more her thoughts drifted the more the rain seemed to disappear.  Everything around her disappeared and it wasn’t until she could feel the weight of her jacket bearing down on her shoulders that she realized she was almost home and completely drenched.  Thunder boomed and she fished for her keys.  Lightening struck and she worked a little faster before managing to get inside.  She immediately pulled off everything that was wet and headed for the basement.  Throwing everything she wore into the washer, she then headed upstairs, after grabbing a clean towel, which she used to cover her nakedness.  

          The hot shower ran until it turned cold and she quickly went about getting dressed.  Turning her thoughts to dinner, she headed out into the kitchen where she found her husband standing in front of the refrigerator. 

          “You’re home early.”  She commented.

          “You were in the shower longer than you thought.”  He smiled and pointed to the microwave clock after pulling an apple out of the fruit drawer.

          “Good gravy.  The kids will be home soon.”  Stephanie shook her head and set about finding all the ingredients she needed to make their favorite dish.

          “I’m sure the macaroni and cheese doesn’t mind if its late.”  Sportacus teased.

          “Well you know how they feel about Chinese food.”  She said.  Both kids found what their parents ate to be a little weird but Henry was actually warming up to the idea whereas Sarah was more into the fortune cookies.

          Sportacus strode over to her and pulled her close to him.  He kissed her neck and gave her a gentle squeeze.

          “You were out in the rain a long time weren’t you?”  The above average hero asked.

          “I was probably out there too long.  I’ll give you a cold if you aren’t careful.”  She teased.

          “Bring it baby.”  He smirked before planting one on her lips.  They were enjoying themselves when Henry walked in followed by his sister, whose hand he held.

          “Ewwww…” the little boy said.  Sarah punched him in the arm forcing Henry to cry out.

          “What did we say about that Sarah?”  Sportacus said after the two separated and before even turning to his kids.

          “He was being mean.”  She protested.

          “Go wash up.”  Stephanie diffused the situation and turned back to her husband.

          “She’s stronger than she realizes and Henry isn’t about to hit her.  He gets his sweet personality from you.”  Sportacus smirked at her comment.

          “And here I thought it was the other way around.”  They laughed and continued to prepare dinner while waiting for the Chinese food arrived.  Stephanie never thought the day would come where she would be completely and utterly happy with the way life was going.  Despite all the bad things early on and the passing of her Uncle, she had a man who adored her, children who lit up her life, and the best group of friends she could have wished for.  New challenges waited around every corner but for the rest of her life she would have people who loved and cared for her and that was all that mattered.

**The End**


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